BarknKnit

NRaWin2012: Mini Veggie/Bacon Frittatas

2012-01-23T14:19:00.003-05:00

This past week's new recipe is a couple days late. We have been doing them on Thursday nights but last week was just too busy and by Thursday night we hadn't made any decisions and we were both just tired. We had plans for doing it over the weekend but in the end, I jumped on helping my sister make breakfast for her family, CGR and I and I got my new recipe in. :)

Sunday morning, my sister G invited us over for breakfast..mainly so they could hang out with Carmen but that's ok. :) We showed up and she was prepping breakfast and when I found out she was trying a new recipe I jumped in and helped and figured it would count still. My niece had found this recipe on Pinterest.com and they were trying it.

Recipe: Mini Veggie/Bacon Frittatas

She started by putting the bacon in the oven to cook. Then she cut up about 2/3rds of a Green Pepper, Red Pepper, and a sweet onion. We realized later we could have used a bit less veggies. And what's great is that you really can use any type of veggies because it's pretty much veggies, meat, and eggs. :) In a bowl, I mixed up 10 eggs(even though the recipe said to use some egg whites we didn't). Then you add the cut up veggies and chop up the bacon and put that in too. Then we put this into muffin tins and baked it for about 20 mins on 350 degrees....and tada a yummy fast breakfast! Carmen couldn't have it because the eggs but she enjoyed some bacon, fruit, and some toast with jam.

I'd like to try this again for Special K and add some sausage and maybe do some that are spinach and feta. It would be fun to try out different recipes but since it was so easy I can imagine we will be doing it again.

This Thursday I have a meet up of mommies from my mommy and me group to go to. They want to learn to knit and so I am going to try to teach them...already enlisted a friend since I am pretty sure that I can't teach 10 people to knit at once. :) So...I'll be trying to do the recipe another night but I think it won't be until either Friday or Saturday. I have an idea of what I want to do but Special K sometimes has his own ideas. :)

Happy Cooking!!!

Review: pediped Originals

2012-01-13T20:32:00.001-05:00

pediped is coming out with a new version of their pediped® Originals® line this Spring 2012. I was sent a pair of these from the company to review and as soon as I got them in the mail I was SO excited! We bought a pair of their previous version and while I love them, they often make her slip while wearing them inside our house. We have tile and with two big dogs the floor is very hard to keep hair and dust free. This new version is awesome! The bottom has a texture to it that causes it to be more slip resistant and still is pliable soft and made from natural leather like the previous ones.

worn, I mean gently loved shoes.

As soon as we put them on her, she went running off through the house and didn't slip once like she has with the other ones. Over the course of the last 2 weeks, we have repeatedly reached for these to put on her. They are easy to put on and she seems to be very comfortable in them. Even our daycare provider mentioned how great these shoes were the first day she showed up with them on. I feel great putting them on her because they are so close to being barefoot, which is great for learning to walk and now run. I'm very glad I got to try these out! I am certain there are more pairs of these in our future.

What's new with the pediped® Originals® line?
- The Spring/Summer 2012 pediped® Originals® feature a more slip resistant sole.
- The sole is all natural leather, just like before!

Because I can't resist a reason to record my girl running around like a crazy girl, here is some video of just a couple of her adventures in these shoes! Hope you enjoy seeing some of her little dance moves!

Thank you again pediped for sending us a pair of these for review and thank you to my little girl for being so cute and putting up with her momma.

Happy Walking...and Running!!

NRaWin2012: Spinach, Mushroom, Onion, Red Bell Pepper Quiche

2012-01-12T21:15:00.000-05:00

Guest post today is from Special K! This week he did all the prep work and cooking. Hope you enjoy his post!
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Hello, this is Natalie's husband Kenny. The new recipe I tried this week was mozzarella quiche with red bell peppers, spinach, mushrooms, and onions. I've never made quiche before, and it turned out to be easier than I thought. I started by baking a 9-inch Pillsbury pie crust in a glass Pyrex pie dish at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes. While the crust was baking, I finely chopped the onions and diced up the peppers and mushrooms for sauteing in a large pan with about a tablespoon of butter and took the spinach out of the freezer to thaw. After that, I mixed about 12 ounces of whole milk with three large cage-free eggs and stirred in about 2 ounces (by weight) of finely shredded mozzarella cheese. After the vegetables were softened a bit and the onions were semi-translucent, I removed them from heat and set aside. The crust was done around the same time, so I took it out of the oven and let it cool so that it wouldn't cook the eggs when I poured in the mixture.

While my crust and I were coolin' out, I added about five ounces (by weight) of the thawed spinach to the cooled veggie mixture. The crust and I were done relaxing, so I added a little of the egg mixture into the crust, followed by some veggie mix and stirred to combine so the veggies wouldn't be centralized in the middle of the dish. I repeated this process until the egg mix was about half to a quarter inch below the top of the crust. Try not to fill too much for fear that the eggs will expand enough to spill over the top of the crust. Now as I'm typing these last few sentences, the timer has gone off and I will go check the quiche by inserting a knife into the center of the dish to make sure there is no uncooked egg mixture that will pour out of the hole made by the knife. If you're clean, then it is done (as is mine). Now you go try it with whatever filling you desire, although, the eggs and milk will pretty much be the same. Oh, and by the way, bake at around 350 for 45 minutes. Natalie will post a review of how it turned out, I'm sure. Enjoy.

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The quiche was amazing! I love quiche and he did a great job. He's already talking about doing home-made crust next time and using a little less veggies and in a different pan. I look forward to more quiche in our future!

Happy Cooking!

DOT: Napping with momma.

2012-01-12T09:00:00.000-05:00

Nothing like napping with momma...

This was taken last Friday when momma was home with our sick baby and while little Miss CGR napped, we took naps too!

Love that nose!

Happy Dogs on Thursday!

PS. One of Carmen's new words we've heard was Abigail! I thought I called her Abby more but I guess I call her Abigail enough for Miss Carmen to point to her golden puppy and said "Abigail!" Was so adorable!

NRaWin2012: Chicken Pot Pie

2012-01-05T20:50:00.001-05:00

What is NRaWin2012 you ask? Well, I was trying to figure out something to call this little goal of mine and NRaWin2012 or New Recipe a Week in 2012 came about! The goal is to make a new recipe every week. It can be anything from a dessert, side, to a whole main dish. It has to be a recipe I have never tried before and I don't have to follow the recipe closely nor do I have to use a recipe. It just has to be making something a new way that I've never done before. I'm not counting out trying several of the same dish using different recipes either. Just trying to make this as easy as possible for me while still being a challenge. There are a lot of weeks in a year! Also not counting out, my husband taking over the cooking for that night...it was VERY hard to keep him from taking over this first week since he usually does most the fun cooking. So, we'll just say that Special K or I will be doing this challenge as a team.

For the first week, Special K requested Chicken Pot Pie. Honestly, I didn't know he liked it so much!! When he mentioned that that's what he wanted, I went on Pinterest and searched Chicken Pot Pie. I got a TON of results! I settled on using this recipe but making some modifications for our tastes.

WEEK 1 RECIPE: Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients

3 uncooked boneless skinless chicken breasts, thawed
2 cans of cream of chicken soup
1 can of cream of mushroom with roasted garlic (you could just use all cream of chicken soap but I saw this and couldn't resist getting at least one of them.)
1 can of milk
1/2 can of water (I only added this because I was worried about leaving it in the crock pot all day but I could have left it out.)
4-5 medium potatoes, diced
1 container of mushrooms
1/2 a bag of crinkle cut carrots
1 cup of diced celery
1 small onion, diced
1 small bag or box of frozen peas
Adobo Seasonings (or whatever your heart desires)
a dash of pepper and salt if you'd like
2 packages of Pillsbury Crescent rolls
Small aluminum tins

The night before I chopped up all the veggies that needed dicing and put them in a container in the fridge. This morning in a crock pot, I added chicken breast, soups, milk, water, potatoes, mushrooms, celery, onion and all spices. Cook on low for about 6 hrs. I let it cook all day while I was at work so it was closer to 9 but I'm sure 6 would work. I came home for lunch and shredded the chicken and stirred it a bit. Next, add peas to the crock pot; cook for about 10 minutes or until peas are warmed through. Since Special K wanted a bottom crust, we unrolled the crescent rolls, put a layer in the tins and for his we put a tin with water on top to keep the crust from puffing up too much but mine we left. Baked it for about 10-12 mins on 350. Then I pulled it out of oven, added pot pie filling, and placed a layer of the crescent roll on top. Last baked in oven on 350 for about another 15-17 mins. Take out the pies, let them cook a bit, and then DIG in!!

Here are some progress pictures for you.

Layer of crescent rolls in tins.

Special Ks on the left with the tin with water in it.

Adding filling and covering them in dough.

You can't tell but I put an N on one and a heart K on the other.

Leftover pie filling!!! I separated it out to use some as soup and some for more pot pies!

Another view of the baked goodness!!!

These came out SO yummy!! Special K was impressed with them which after eating some not so great meals I've cooked in our time married is a GREAT thing! I think this will be a recipe I will try again...but just maybe not for a while.

Hope you enjoyed my first NRaWin2012! Feel free to join me in this challenge at anytime and add a link to your post in the comments!

Happy Cooking!!!!

PS...if you notice this wasn't something I could give Miss Carmen AKA the milk/peanut/egg allergy girly! She has some potatoes cooked in olive oil on stove, peas, and soy yogurt for dinner. Nothing too exciting but she ate a bunch so that is good! I was going to make her some chicken too but she wasn't feeling that good so she was extra snuggly. :) Love that girl! We might be staying home tomorrow because of her sickness but we haven't made the call yet.

Guest Post: 10 Best Free iPhone Apps for Pregnancy

2012-01-05T08:26:00.001-05:00

Welcome to the first ever guest post on Barknknit Blog (other than the ones from my pups)! I am excited that someone offered to guest post! Took me a bit longer than I had hoped to get this live but tis life during the holidays! I hope you enjoy this guest blog post! I used several of these while I was pregnant with Carmen. Please go over and check out Brooke site linked below.
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10 Best Free iPhone Apps for Pregnancy

How did our mothers and grandmothers get pregnant without the convenience of modern devices? If you have an iPhone, you have an amazing partner in pregnancy. To prove it, we have collected 10 free and amazing apps available on iTunes for expectant mothers that can help you do everything from anticipating the next step to registering.

What to Expect – The makers of the popular “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” series have this free app available at the iTunes store. Simply enter your estimated due date to get loads of tracking and tips. It gives you week by week details, illustrations, and can even connect you with others in the same stages of pregnancy.
My Pregnancy Today – Similar to the above, this app is also a pregnancy tracker. It is sponsored by Baby Center, which has been used by 25 million expecting moms. Features include day to day updates, pregnancy checklist, nutrition guide, and more.
Babble Pregnancy App – This app is brought by the website of the same name. It contains the usual week by week updates as well as health tips for the next 40 weeks.
Pregnancy Food No-No’s – Every pregnant woman has strange food cravings, but did you know that some foods can be dangerous? This free app keeps a list of foods that should be avoided and approached with caution during pregnancy.
Share my Pregnancy – One of the most tedious parts of being pregnant can be the repeating of stories over and over. Use this app to share with friends and family on the progress of your pregnancy. Simply create a list of those you want to share with to begin.
50,000 Baby Names FREE – Get just what the app title promises. If you can’t find a name here, it probably doesn’t exist. You can also use the app to view the name’s meaning, origin, and popularity.
Hello Baby Pregnancy Calendar – Get a visual calendar at no charge with this app. It is brought to you by Pampers and features life sized images that allow you to see the baby’s growth in the womb. It’s a good choice for those who want the visual side of pregnancy.
Anne Geddes Beginnings HD – Take the above to the next step in this app. Anne Geddings is a leader in baby pictures and shares amazing images in the app. In addition to the images, you can also check out her podcasts.
Babies R Us – Because registering and shopping can be one of the best parts of being pregnant, check out these apps. There is both a shopping app for registries and a guide app that can help you pick out items.
Full Term: Labor Contraction Timer - This application is for mothers who are about to deliver and to record their labor contractions. It was created by a husband to keep track of his wife's labor.

Brooke Stafford is a nursing practitioner student and also writes for Family Nurse Practitioner Degrees. The site helps students find the right nurse practitioner degree to fit their needs.

The Holidays in Pictures...

2012-01-04T10:23:00.001-05:00

I had big plans of blogging while on my vacation but it just didn't happen! Along with finishing the Calligraphy Cardigan, which all I have left to do is finish the last 3rd of the 2nd sleeve and then do the button bands, it just didn't happen! I have a guest blog post that will go up tomorrow but for today we are going to catch up with pictures from our 10 day trip to visit Special K's family up in Ohio!

I couldn't have asked for a better behaved baby while on vacation! She did great on the flight up and only cried because her bobo aka pacifier came out of her mouth and her ears were hurting her on the decent. She was also SO good with her 2 week old cousin Braxton. She would check on him if he cried while in his rocker, she even ROCKED him when I asked her to, and yes she also tried to take his bobo!

She gave him kisses and LOTS of hugs!!!

She got to hold him and she was a bit concerned because he cried but she gave him a hug none the less.

She also tolerated all the hand knits that I covered her in love with! We brought her Toddler coat that I had used handspun to knit as well as her aviator hat with more of my handspun! In this picture she even had handknit socks on!

Even though it was way colder than we are used to, we made sure if we didn't go somewhere during the day that we went for a walk. Carmen wasn't about keeping gloves on so her hands were frigid when we got done with our walk but she loved going for walks! (YES, Special K is crazy in shorts!!)

We had a snow suit that Special K's aunt got her but it never really snowed enough for it to be used. We tried it on her once and she instantly just fell back. I caught her but then she just laid there immobile! I took a quick picture and then freed her from the suit!

More handspun love! Her grandma got her a stroller for up there because she saw one of her 2nd cousin's at Christmas and she just had to have one of her own! :)

Special K's Aunt got both babies some cute Christmas outfits and it was NOT easy to get a picture but this is the best one we got! :)

And momma had to pose with her and some Christmas cheer!

She loved opening presents and even like to wear the gift bag! I just LOVE this picture...both of them smiling so big!!

She didn't think Daddy was opening her gift fast enough!

Daddy spend some time with his new nephew...

We visited with Special K's childhood friend and got to play with their daughter. She had a purse that Carmen just HAD to wear around!

Here she is sitting with her two crazy boy cousins!! She just thought they were too cool but SO CRAZY!! (Notice the new dad PASSED out on the couch!)

Every time we go to visit up north, we ALWAYS stop at Primanti Bros for some yummy sammiches! Carmen couldn't eat the sammich but she definitely ate!

We had a great time but we were all ready to come home. We missed our puppies and our own bed. We miss our family up there and we didn't get to see snow...but it was a great trip. On our way out of town, we ate at Friday's while waiting for our plane.

We posed...

And then we came home to some puppies who could not have been more excited to see their family! They were well taken care of by their aunties and family!

Hope you enjoyed our Christmas/New Year trip in pictures!!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

This Moment - A US Citizen

2011-12-16T08:47:00.000-05:00

{this moment} – A Friday ritual from Soule Mama. A single photo – no words –(cheating this week with words and an extra video) capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your “moment” in the comments for all to find and see.

My Step-sister becomes a US Citizen!! So happy for her!

This Tuesday my step-sister became a US citizen! I'm SO very proud and happy for her. Our parents married over 20 years ago and she has been a part of my life since I was 7. She is an amazing person with a HUGE heart and someone who I love dearly. One of her desires for I don't know how long has been to become a US citizen. She moved from Panama to the States about 10 years ago and finally after a very long journey became a citizen. When we heard she passed her test, we all decided that we had to go to her ceremony to support her. None of u had been to one so we weren't sure what to expect but it was pretty interesting. First thing I thought when we sat down in a conference room FULL of people was where are these people from. And part of the ceremony is them saying a country and the person(s) from that country stand. There were people from all over the world but only one from Panama!

During the ceremony, they also played God Bless the USA by Lee Greenwood and this is a song that they used to play ALL the time on TV in Panama on the 2 English channels that I grew up on, channels 8 and 10! Yes, I grew up on only 2 channels in English on TV so if I don't know a reference to some show you watched as a child that's why! I didn't get Disney growing up but I remember LOVING to watch it when we came to visit the states. Anyway, the song was great and I knew every word.

My step-sister swore in as a US citizen and I'm so glad that I could be a part of it! After the ceremony, we went to the Cheesecake factory to celebrate and then Carmen got to sit on Santa's lap, which she was not a fan of but pic to come.

Congrats Luz! Love you and am so happy for you!

A Series of Thoughts: Body Image...

2011-12-13T08:34:00.000-05:00

Oh so much has been going on in my brain...I can't exactly figure out where to start but I have several posts that I have been wanting to write lately but haven't figured out exactly what I want to say yet. I think I'm going to start by which one inspires me most when I have time to write. I've been working on this post for about three weeks and I think I'm just going to post what I have.

Many of you might not be aware but I have lost a pretty substantial amount of weight since I went on what I like to refer to as the Carmen diet. It's a diet I would have never done for myself but because of Carmen's allergy needs I gave up everything milk, eggs, and peanuts for over 5 months. I will freely admit that the first week I cried almost every night...I just didn't know what I could eat. The problem was we had not up until that point been buying groceries with these allergies in mind so when I would go to grab something to eat most of what we had was on the list of food to avoid.

It took several weeks before I was able to find substitutes for some of my favorite foods so I didn't feel like I was giving everything up. I didn't try very hard to find sweet substitutes but things like mayo, yogurt, peanut butter had to be replaced with something. I spent several years of my life drinking only soy milk so that was not a big change for me. I now look back and realize that it was a blessing that I had done the switch earlier because if I had to while giving up everything else soy milk would be hated and not loved like it is now.

Through these months of giving up these foods and being a royal pain in the butt when it came to eating with others, I learned a lot about myself. First I realized that I could sit in front of a chocolate cake and not feel like I HAD to eat a piece. Yes, I wanted some but I was able to say no and be fine. I knew that I was saying no for Carmen and that made the no so much easier. And that brings me to the second thing, that giving things up for my daughter is SO much easier than giving them up for myself. When I knew it was for her, I just felt like it was something I had to do and not something I was choosing to do. I know many people just said why don't you just wean and do formula but that just wasn't an option for me in my head. I'll go into that more in another post I have planned but my goal was to nurse her for a year and then let her wean and that is what I was able to do.

The third thing and what I originally started this post to write about was I learned I really didn't know how to respond to the comments people made about how great I looked because of the weight loss. I have never in my life been what you would call thin. I have gone through periods of my life where I felt I could lose weight and I know there were several times I wish I was thin but once I got past my mid-twenties I stopped wanting to be thin. I want to be fit and healthy but not thin. Getting pregnant I was not upset with the weight gain, my body was creating life! I was proud of my body for creating such a beautiful little girl and being able to carry a baby to term and even though I ended up getting an epidural, I was able to labor without it for over 12 hours. I was proud that I was able to provide my daughter milk for a year...my body is amazing! I love my body not for what it looks like but for what it has done and what it has created and where it takes me.

When people started commenting, I had to refrain from telling them what I felt but have stuck to thank you and to say that I can't eat anything. What I want to say is that I wasn't unhappy with my body before the weight loss. I wasn't unhappy with myself or unhappy with the way I looked. I am a mom and I had gain those pounds with pride. I knew they would come off when they were ready but I wasn't going to starve myself or workout incessantly or sacrifice the time with my daughter to lose them.

I know people may not understand where I'm coming from but I don't want my personal value to be based on how I look, I don't want to teach my daughter that looks are everything. I want her to love herself for her. I do plan to teach her how to be an active child and play sports and be healthy and fit but if that means she's not what society considers to be thin or beautiful then so be it! I will always think she's beautiful as I will always think I'm beautiful no matter what weight I am.

A friend posted a link to a video today that describes what is going on in society today and it really pushed me to post this finally. I was thinking of posting pictures of the weight change but I really don't think that's what this post is about...what I look like now. It doesn't matter what I look like now. I'm sure you can see pictures of my thinner self on this blog but this post will only have this video.

Happy Loving yourself!

Carmen's First Birthday Socks...Published!

2011-12-12T08:22:00.000-05:00

Socks, socks, everywhere socks! I love socks...I love wearing them and I love knitting them! When Carmen was born I knit her a tiny pair of infant socks and she wore them a couple times but they were so adorable on her! When I was looking for a pattern to knit socks for her for her first birthday, I couldn't find a pattern that was her size but how I knit socks. I don't like knitting from formulas as sometimes, especially when it comes to socks which are my brainless knits, I want it already spelled out! I want to just see the numbers and go from there. So, I came up with this pattern so I can knit her multiple pairs.

Carmen's First Birthday Socks

If you find any errors or have any questions, please contact me. As bigger sizes are worked, I will add the stitch counts to the pattern. Can’t wait to see the little socks others knit from this pattern! Enjoy!

Happy Sock Knitting!

PS...with a walking toddler...it's amazingly hard to get a good picture of her wearing these socks.

This moment - Cuddles with daddy.

2011-12-09T08:00:00.000-05:00

{this moment} – A Friday ritual from Soule Mama. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your “moment” in the comments for all to find and see.

Birthday Weekend recap...

2011-12-08T08:30:00.001-05:00

This past weekend was crazy! Between my company holiday party and Carmen's first birthday, by Sunday I was spent! I've been trying to get this post up since then and well...it's Wednesday night and I'm sure I won't have it post until Thursday...so I didn't quite get this up quickly. Oh well.

The holiday party went great! It was so fun to spend time with my co-workers outside of work and the hotel room that the company got us was great!

Special K and I at the party...him in a co-workers cardi

Special K had too good of a time but I'm glad he had fun! It was my first night away from little miss Carmen and as hard as it was not waking up to her noises, I know it was good for us to go through with it. She was home with her Auntie and I heard they had a great time. This also helped smooth over our weaning but I'll talk about how weaning her went in a separate post. The morning after the party, we slept in a bit and then stopped for breakfast on the way home. Once we got home, I was go go go until we got to my FIL's house to start setting up.

I was very happy with how the decorations I made looked and check out the balloon that the magician at the holiday party made! He was pretty awesome.

Everyone seemed to have a great time....I won't talk too much but here are some pictures of the event!

Checking out the fishy daddy caught off the dock

The awesome cake that my sister's MIL made her!

Singing Happy Birthday.

Eating my vegan cupcake!

Opening lots of presents!

Happy First Birthday to my baby girl!

This moment - waking up daddy on my birthday!

2011-12-02T07:29:00.001-05:00

Carmen is One!

2011-12-01T21:13:00.001-05:00

I have written this post several times in my head and I'm still not sure what I want to write. I had all these ideas of what I would like to write about my first year with the most amazing blessing I could have ever asked for but I just can't find the right words to put down...so instead I pulled together some of my favorite pictures and created this slide show to show you all the fun we've had this first year of Carmen. I look forward to many more years watching this determined and smart girl discover the world. Thank you!

Kizoa slideshow: The First Year of Carmen - Slideshow

Hope you all have a great day! After Carmen's first cake, it took us a while to get her to fall asleep so after making this slideshow and talking to a dear friend on the phone...I'm ready to head to bed.

Happy Birthday to Miss Little Carmen!!!

NaBloPoMo...I did it!!!

2011-12-01T07:00:00.000-05:00

What is NaBloPoMo and why haven't I mentioned it before? NaBloPoMo is National Blog Posting Month. It's a challenge to blog every day in the month of November. It's along the lines of NaNoWriMo aka National Novel Writing Month and NaKniSweMo, National Knitting Sweater Month...and I think there might be others. As you probably have noticed, there has been A LOT of blogging lately...every day in fact. Most the time, I wrote them prior to the day and then had them post that day or I posted them after the day but I have a blog post on this blog for every day in November! I didn't mention it because I wasn't sure I would actually be able to accomplish it and figured it would be best be a challenge that I just do and not mention until it's over.

And this is where we are at today...I have accomplished my goal! I blogged every day for a month and I feel great about it! I don't get any award but just to know that I can post a blog every day for a month is great! I'm hoping it's gotten me in the habit of blogging again. I really enjoy posting to this blog, even though I know I have lost many readers with my lack of blogging days but that's ok. I'm happy with those who have stuck it out and are still with me.

Through this month, I learned that sometimes just posting a picture and a little bit of text is better than not posting at all. Before this started, I went through old posts and I LOVE that it's all here...from planning my wedding to some about my pregnancy, lots about my baby, and a lot of crafting!

This blog as I've mentioned before is more of a journal of my thoughts and what's going on with me. I would never call myself a writer because I write how I speak and I rarely go back and edit posts. :) I hope you enjoy my blog anyway! Welcome to those new readers who have joined us this month and as always Thank you for those long time friends who have stuck around!

Happy Blogging!

PS...yes there will be a Carmen post today...but I wanted to get this post up first.

Almost Wordless Wednesday...

2011-11-30T21:07:00.001-05:00

Recipe from here and they are SOOOO yummy! Wish I had read what she said about the icing before I tried piping it on...as you can see it didn't work! Lots more to say tomorrow! :)

crafting, decorations, and knitting....oh my!

2011-11-29T20:29:00.001-05:00

I'm busy getting ready for Carmen's first birthday Party on Saturday!! Her birthday is Thursday and I just can't believe it's almost been a year...I'll talk more about that later. I've got lots to do between now and then but wanted to share some pics of things I've done for the party. Here is a sneak peak of the decorations for the party!

and what I did with the crayons from yesterday! They are all ready to head to the daycare tomorrow for the kiddos!

can't get this to go in here right! Will fix later!

Happy Week!

PS...a sneak peak of a new pattern that will be going up free! Carmen's First Birthday Socks aka Toddlers socks!

Some crafting diy!

2011-11-28T11:00:00.000-05:00

As you all know, I LOVE pinterest! And if you spend any amount of time on pinterest, you know there are tons of do it yourself stuff you can do! The gift I plan to make CGR for her first birthday, which didn't get done this weekend, is from there and I have been finding a lot of great ideas for the future.

One of the things I wanted to get done this weekend was to make CGR's daycare buddies a little party favor for her birthday. We didn't invite any of her friends to her birthday party because our family is just too big for that! The idea I came up with was to make them some big crayons! It was quite the process to get the wrappers off the old crayons but it was fun to figure out what colors to put together and to watch them melt! Some are going to other kids in our family and I have more crayons to make more now that I know how! I might need to recruit more people to un-wrap them though!

Happy Crafting and DIY!

My OWL is complete!!!

2011-11-27T21:05:00.001-05:00

My Transfiguration OWL is complete! I spun 1516 yards of DK weight and dyed it all up in 3 months! YAY! I'm so proud of myself! This is the most yarn I have spun in one go and most I've dyed up. The spinning isn't perfect and neither is the dyeing but I did it and I can't be more happy with how it came out! I can't WAIT to cast on the cardigan and wear my handspun, hand dyed, hand knit cardi!

started out as fiber in a box

Turned into lots of yarn

Lots of yarn!

cooling after heat setting the dye

And here it all is! All pretty and dyed up!

LOVE IT!

I'm so happy with it and I now don't feel so intimidated by spinning for big projects that I might just have to start another project like this because I have other cardigans that need handspun yarn! :)

It has been turned in to the House Cup group and just waiting for it to dry so I can cast on! However, probably won't cast on until after I finish these socks I'm working on for Carmen and maybe one more gift but it's going to be very hard to resist!!!

Happy Spinning and House Cup!!

More Park Fun!

2011-11-26T20:45:00.000-05:00

Today was another great weekend day! I love days where I don't have to work and I get to spend lots of time with my girl Carmen! She is so fun and now that she's almost 1 she is just getting so funny and watching her explore the world is amazing!

Tonight we had another Thanksgiving dinner, so in preparation I wanted to make sure that CGR got a great nap...which I have realized that going to the park between her naps helps get her tired enough to go down for the 2nd one. So, off to the park we went again! I will have to say another great time!

We also had a great time at our 2nd Turkey dinner. My FIL deep fried the turkey and it was delish! CGR had fun feeding herself with her fork and it was a very pleasant evening.

Happy Saturday!!

Rockin and Rollin...

2011-11-25T20:31:00.000-05:00

After getting to sleep in this morning, we had a great day off! It started with a trip to see our friend Jackie at the store she owns with her hubby Todd called Furnish Me Vintage. It's a Mid Century Modern and Danish Furniture store. CGR found her favorite thing in the store! It's a rocking chair, which she loves rocking chairs which is surprising because she does not like swings.

Here is a video of her rocking at the Saturday Morning Market a couple weeks ago. When we took this video, I had never seen her do that before.

After our visit, we stopped by the park with our cousins and aunties for some fun play time! This was the first of many trips to the park this weekend!

After the park, we stopped back at my sister's house for some leftovers...here we are having fun with a box.

Happy Non shopping day for us!

Turkey Trottin...

2011-11-24T20:26:00.000-05:00

CGR and I woke up just in time to get picked up by my sisters, cousins, and family to head to the Turkey Trot! We had a great time. It's a family tradition for the ladies and kids to go before the eating begins. This year, my brother-in-law Toad went and let's just say...he was entertaining. We got to see some of my fellow mommy and me friends and lots and lots of people! CGR by the end just wanted to walk so when we got close enough, we let her cross the finish line on her own. She loved that!

The rest of the day was spent napping and then family fun times! Lots of yummy food and fellowship made it a fantastic Thanksgiving day!

CGR's first thanksgiving dinner and her silly daddy!

Hope you had a fantastic time too!

Happy Thanksgiving!

PS...and yes CGR's cardigan was knit by me! :)

Wordless Wednesday

2011-11-23T19:26:00.001-05:00

Visit to mommy's work.

2011-11-22T21:43:00.001-05:00

CGR spent the day with her Auntie today and since my department was having a potluck I asked my sister to bring her by so she could see them and I could see her. She had so much fun and it was so great to spend a little time with CGR during my work day! I miss seeing her everyday at lunch.

She seemed to have a blast and enjoyed walking around them many wide open halls in my office...

play with the stress balls...

but she was a little skeptical of the big white guy!

Happy Tuesday!

And more of the little one.

2011-11-21T18:04:00.001-05:00

I know yesterday's was a pretty heavy CGR post but I just can't help it! And I think you'll probably get a lot more of her coming since it's almost her 1st birthday!!!

I usually play with CGR in the living room and sort of block her in....well, with her new found walking freedom she just thinks she can go anywhere she wants. Before I started filming this, she had actually moved the basket and went on her merry way. The blue toy was a yard sale find by her Aunties! She hasn't quite figured it out yet but she seems to be interested in it.

Happy Monday!!

Laundry and football...Sunday! :)

2011-11-20T21:00:00.000-05:00

Today started out with some laundry...I had a great helper. What do you think?

"mom, can I help you?"

"this is a shirt right?"

"yay! I'm in the basket!!!"

"Wow, that was a lot of work. I need a break."

Then after some shopping with my sister and niece, we had nap time and then off to my other sisters house for some play time with those cousins before Giso night at my cousins house! Sunday was FULL of family and it was great!

Even though the Steelers didn't play today, her daddy said she still needed to wear her Steelers' cheerleading outfit! She was so cute in it, I agreed!

"Yay, Steelers!!"

"Ok mom...this cheering thing is too much work."

"I think playing with my toys is more fun."

Hope you all had a great Weekend!!!!

Where did the day go?

2011-11-19T16:00:00.000-05:00

My saturday was spent sleeping, getting an allergy attack, sleeping it off, and then finally get up! Once I was up, my daughter headed over to her Auntie's to play with her cousin and auntie for the afternoon so that her daddy and I could do some deep cleaning to the house. It was in much need of a deep once over and even though I was still a bit out of it from the allergy meds, we got a TON done! It's nice to have a clean house but I hate the actually cleaning of it. It would make things a lot easier if our pups didn't lose all their hair once a day! At least that is how it feels.

Well, after we were done cleaning, we hung out with our little girl and went to sleep early. Exciting Saturday huh?

Happy Saturday!

This Moment - midnight showing of Breaking Dawn!

2011-11-18T17:00:00.000-05:00

Doggie Love for DOT

2011-11-17T19:00:00.000-05:00

Not sure I have mentioned how much my daughter loves dogs. When she was younger than she is now...which wasn't that long ago, when a doggie barked she would laugh and laugh! She thought doggie barks were so funny! She still giggles at them sometimes but I'm so happy they don't startle her or scare her. When our dogs are walking in her direction, she just smiles big! I have heard her say both the dogs names, however, she doesn't say them all the time. I'm sure she will get there soon. She also loves all the family dogs and strangers dogs, although we don't allow her to pet strange dogs....she still smiles and points at them.

With her furcousin Maui

I am happy that my daughter is already showing signs of being an animal lover! I look forward to the day that she will learn how to train dogs and take care of them as well.

Happy Dogs on Thursday

Wordless Wednesday

2011-11-16T22:00:00.000-05:00

Spinning in Public.

2011-11-15T22:00:00.000-05:00

I love to spin at any time I can whether that's at home or in public. I enjoy the relaxation that spinning yarn brings me, however, I do get a lot less weird looks at home than I do in public. People often stop to ask how it works or just comment on the wheel itself. I don't mind this at all as long as I can keep spinning while they talk. hehe!

At last night's weekly knitting meet-up, I brought my wheel because there was no sign of rain and I spun spun spun! I'm almost done with what I hope is the LAST single for my OWL! If I can finish it up and get it plied by the end of the weekend then hopefully I can get it all dyed up Thanksgiving weekend. It needs to be turned in by Nov 30th so I don't have too much time left.

Hope you all had a great Tuesday!

Matching FOs...and happy baby

2011-11-14T20:01:00.001-05:00

As I mentioned in a previous post, I finished my BROOM which was the Spectra scarf by Stephen West. I can't turn it in until tomorrow but I figured I'd post pictures today. I knit it using the only skein of Wollmeise I had and some Miss Babs in Falling Leaves that I purchased at SAFF. When I first started knitting it, I was just following the pattern and I didn't like how the wrap and turns were working up. I fretted over re-starting as it had taken me over a week or so to get 10 repeats done. Yes, I had been working on other things as well but I never know how much time I'll get to craft so I cherish the time I do get. In the end, I knew if I didn't like it now then I wouldn't like it later. So, my shawl went from this...

to this....

I went to youtube and I found this video from Cat Bordhi about concealing the wrap & turns and cast on again. This time it went faster as I had already memorized the pattern. It still took me a great deal of time to get the 87 repeats of the pattern complete but I'm very happy with how it turned out!

After finishing it, I realized I still needed to cast on something for the last Yule Ball dance and the prompt says "Mini costume items are allowed as long as they use at least 25 yards." I couldn't resist using some of the left over yarn from my Spectra to knit a mini Spectra! I did some math in my head and cast on...since it was mini it went super fast! I turned it in last night! What do you think? Cute huh?

Well, Little Miss CGR spent the day with her cousin and she had a great day! We think the sickness is teething. She went from snotitng all over the place to drooling all over the place. She's still a bit snotty but not as bad as yesterday. She is fast asleep but after a day full of this...

you would be tired too!

Happy Knitting!

Baby in arms...best way to spend an afternoon.

2011-11-13T21:28:00.001-05:00

It's been a long day with a little girl who's nose hasn't stopped running since she woke up and who avoided naps most the day. After taking a short drive to get her to sleep, she only slept for an hour in her crib and then spent the rest of her 3 hour nap like this.

I spent the majority of my maternity leave with her sleeping in my arms but since she's gotten older she rarely sleeps in my arms. She's also not much of a cuddler...mostly because she is always on the move...so I knew she wasn't feeling good when she let me cuddle her a lot this weekend. I savored every moment and cuddle.

It worked out great because it happened to be Harry Potter weekend on Family Channel. What is so funny is that the weekend we brought her home last year it was also HP weekend and what I can remember of that weekend and the week to follow was nursing my newborn while watching lots and lots of Harry Potter. It was something that I had already seen plenty so I knew I could miss things and still be able to just enjoy the movie. I also would record them and watch them throughout the weeks to follow. Harry Potter will always remind me of those first weeks with my baby girl.

I hope she feels better soon because I can't stand to see her feeling this way. She's managed to sleep tonight but not soundly. Hoping she stays asleep long enough for me to get some too. Speaking of which...off to bed I go!

Happy Sunday

Friday night with the gals and a fast Saturday...

2011-11-12T21:13:00.001-05:00

Friday night, 2 of my local sisters and my cousin drove up to Seminole for a couponing workshop. I had heard of the workshop from a friend and thought since it's F R E E why not! I'm glad that the other gals came with me though because it was a lot to take in. We learned a bunch and I'm not sure about them but I'm very excited to get started. They did warn us that it's going to take a while but I just hope that we can shave some money off our monthly expenses. I'll keep you posted. If you are local and want to find a couponing workshop to attend, check out their site at Truecouponing.com. Like I said it's free and what do you have to lose but a couple hours of your night.

After the workshop, we stopped for dinner and it was really nice to spend some time with the gals! I think we need to plan a gals night with my sisters and cousins again. What do you gals think?

Today flew by! My little one wasn't a fan of napping and this mama had her first allergy attack in a long time. Thankfully, daddy was home and hung out with his girl while I got to sleep it off. After I managed to get rid of my drippy nose, we played some more and then headed over to my sister's house to watch her high school age daughter get ready for Homecoming tonight. Surfer girl looked amazing and I think she wishes her family wouldn't descend on the house for her big moments but that's what family does. It's just our way of showing her we love her. We got lots of great pictures including this great one of little miss CGR! She's such a happy walker even though she was so tired and spent most the afternoon in a foggy haze.

Once we got home, got dinner in her, her nose started running like a faucet. I feel horrible for her but no fever so I'm hoping it goes away. She didn't protest going to sleep once she got her bath and her daddy rocked her. She's been sleeping soundly ever since. Hoping that she sleeps all night because not only does she need it but I need some sleep too!

I finished my BROOM aka my Spectra Scarf tonight! I plan to take some pictures tomorrow and get it turned in! I can't figure out what to knit next but I'm going to sleep on it and then I'll figure it out.

Happy Weekending!

This moment - Pure Happiness.

2011-11-11T14:53:00.001-05:00

BLTelicious!!!

2011-11-10T20:15:00.001-05:00

Hi, my name is Gnat aka Barknknit and I, I am ADDICTED to pinterest.com! It's an addiction to all the pretty pictures of crafts and especially of FOOD!! This addiction has prompted my 2012 goal. I am still working on a 2012 theme ala Jasmin from the Knitmore Girls Podcast but for now I have a goal. My goal is to make one new recipe a week for the year. This can be any type of recipe such as a main dish, dessert, or side. I have begun preparing by creating a board with ideas for my weekly new recipe to try. I need to come up with a catchy name for my goal aka project but it hasn't come to me yet...so if you have suggestions or even if you want to join in just leave me a comment and let me know.

While looking at all the pictures of food and wanting to take a nice lick of my screen last week, I started to develop a craving for some bacon! Now bacon is a breakfast food which goes great with pancakes, waffles, omelets, and eggs cooked in any way...and yet all those contain eggs which I am still not able to eat. While a plate of bacon sounds lovely, a meal it does not make. After dreaming of bacon, the idea came to me that we should just have BLTs. I'm not sure I have ever in my life made one and only had them maybe twice. Special K was all over this idea so we decided that we would have them tonight. Of course there would be a suggestion on pinterest for how to make the bacon for a BLT! I saw this pin and thought genius! I posted it on Facebook and got another suggestion of using avocado instead of mayo and I was sold!

After work, I stopped by Publix to get the supplies we were missing. CGR and I got home, took care of the pups, and then this mama got to cooking! I put the fries into the oven...yes...we had a healthy meal tonight...and then mashed up half the avocado and added salt and pepper to it. I washed and cut up the lettuce and tomato then wove the bacon and put it in the oven! When the bacon was almost done, I toasted my bread, spread the avocado paste onto it and layered some tomato and lettuce! Lastly came the delicious BACON!!!

My BLT was complete and looking oh so yummy!!

And let me tell you...it was DELICOUS!! The bacon was perfect and with the mix of the avocado...well you just can't go wrong with avocado!! This is definitely something I'm going to have to make again. And baking the bacon is genius!!

I was thinking that I'll be posting about my new recipes project on this blog but you know I'm not always good at following through with things in the interwebs. My goal of part of this recipe thing is to blog about it but honestly the goal of actually doing the recipes are more important. They might not all get blogged when they happen but I really want to try out new recipes so I'm excited!

Between now and the first week of the new year, I plan to post up some of my recipes that are my go to ones. I'm not a great cook by any stretch of the imagination but I can cook and the things I do cook I find delicious! I will also post some recipes from my family and ones friends have given me that I've tried. And just so you know...they won't all be as vague as this one. hehe!

Happy Cooking, Baking, and Making!!

House Cup October Progress Report!

2011-11-09T17:30:00.000-05:00

For October, which is the 2nd month in the Fall Term for the Harry Potter Knit/Crochet House Cup, I again managed to do all things! As a Gryffindor, I'm all about doing it all! I got detention done on first day, 6 classes turned in, 2 dances done for the yule ball, task 2 completed for the Tri-wizard tournament, and got my OWL 50% turned in too! Here is my mosaic for this month. The yardage total is how many yards I knit or spun this month alone.

I am feeling great about my first two months in the House Cup! Still think I might fall a tad short of doing it all this month but my biggest goals are to finish the BROOM and OWL which are both big points! I've already turned in 2 classes and detention. I'm almost done with my BROOM and OWL, then I'll focus on the rest of the house cup stuff. For now, I just need to stay focused! Wish me luck!

Happy House Cupping!

Way of escape...

2011-11-08T22:27:00.001-05:00

Today was a great day. Started my day with cuddles with my little girl, work, lunch with the hubby, more work, pick up a happy girl from daycare, walk with the Mendie family, some time with hubby, and then knit night with the gals where I taught a friend to knit....now off to bed.

Before I leave you...I will end with the following verse.

1 Corinthians 10:13No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

Happy Tuesday!

Leaves are yummy...

2011-11-07T19:40:00.001-05:00

I have never been a big fan of the day called Monday...it's that first day of the work week and it just always feels like it takes FOREVER! Today was unusually bad because of the time change. The first hour of work felt like 5 and the rest of the day seemed to be going in slow motion no matter the amount of actual work I was accomplishing. When the clock struck 4 and my workday was FINALLY over, I got to pick up my girl...which is my favorite time of day. When the daycare lady opens the door, I usually get greeted with a big screech that I like to interpret as "MOM'S HERE" and now that I have a walker...a cutie pie walking over to me!

After chatting with the daycare lady and the other mom, we headed home where our nanny-cousin met up with us. We had snack because snacks are VERY important to a walking baby and then headed out on our walk with the pups. Nanny-cousin opted not to bring along the stroller this time and she paid for it. Little miss CGR with her new found walking ability, has decided that walking is the way to go! She also learned today that she can stop to pick up leaves and leaves are crinkly and fun and when no one is looking taste pretty good too!

The pups had a great time as usual. They love our evening walks and get lots of time to smell all the smells only dogs can love. I posed them for a picture and the lady who walks every day around the lake stopped to tell me how great my pups are. She said her dogs would never just sit there like that but would be jumping all over her. After I released them from their sit/stay, they did go over and try to jump on her to get some loving...so I guess they aren't as good as she was thinking. Love their cuteness though!

I hope you all had a great weekend and Monday! I'm looking forward to a better Tuesday...especially because Tuesday brings knit night with it! :)

Happy Monday!

The day of rest?

2011-11-06T22:26:00.002-05:00

What happened to Sunday being the day of rest! It started with a great morning nap by CGR. Love when my little one takes a good morning nap on weekends.

After she got up, we headed to pick up my step-sister for a day of fun! We started with a stop at the park. She got to swing, which again...she's not a huge fan of being pushed but she likes to move it a little herself. There was also a little 15 month old boy there who was running. CGR couldn't stop following him and pointing. I am pretty sure she was looking at us and asking why can't she do that. I wish she understood her momma isn't ready for her to be running but I don't think that is going to stop her from trying.

After the park, we swung by and got Auntie CZbrats to join us in our adventure. The first thing we needed was some yummy burgers from a local burger joint. It was strange because it's the very first place I've gone that doesn't have high chairs. Yes, it's a bar but most places even bars have high chairs. CGR enjoyed being passed around and eating off her own plate.

We then stopped by a local Holiday Art Show that my friend Tinyant helped organize. It was a great success and we enjoyed ourselves while we were there. We didn't stay long but we got to see a lot of pretty neat local arts and crafts. If they do it next year, I have some ideas of things I'd like to make. We then did some shopping and home for a nap.

The day ended with some dinner with daddy and then listening to daddy read books to his little girl. It melts my heart every time!! After CGR went to bed, we managed to squeeze in an episode of Grimm, a new kind of scary show, between football games.

Hope you all had a great weekend! Time for bed!

Happy Day of Rest!!

Saturday Morning Market fun

2011-11-05T08:00:00.000-04:00

The day started by getting to sleep in until 8:30!! Thank you CGR! After some yummy breakfast and coffee, we headed out to the Saturday morning market with my sister and her kids (yes, both are over 21 but they are still her children.) It is one of my favorite things to do on weekends. The best part for me are the empanadas, which are always yummy and the fresh puffed rice cakes, which CGR loves! They are not like the hard store bought kind and this week he had cinnamon ones which are delicious.

After getting both our empanada and our rice cakes, we came along the Adirondack guy who had a little rocking chair. We put CGR in it and I wasn't expecting much because she's not a huge fan of being pushed on swings but she had a blast in the rocking chair! Check her out.

The last couple times we've gone, we always stop at this little grassy patch in front of this awesome waterfall on the side of a building. The grass is always perfect and CGR likes the waterfall. She got to practice her walking this time. She is getting really good while holding on to one finger. I think she knows she can go faster, which seems to be her goal right now...go fast!!

But she can walk fine without it too.

We had a great time with our cousins and Auntie. The rest of the day was spent hanging with daddy and enjoying our Saturday.

Happy Saturday Morning Marketing!!

This Moment - mornin chillin

2011-11-04T07:21:00.003-04:00

Mom...the flash is really bright!

PS...someone is a BIG fan of her truck! She wasn't fussing in the last picture but the cellphone flash is bright in the early morning when momma wakes you up and you don't want to be up. :)

A Fresh Cut and WIPs galore.

2011-11-03T18:00:00.000-04:00

Tonight aka last night when this goes live, I finally got my haircut. I'm not sure I've mentioned this on the blog or not but I have really thick hair and when my hair gets too long I start to develop headaches. Yes, it can be funny for many people to think that just long hair can cause headaches but I don't joke.

The lady who cuts my hair has been cutting it for I want to say about 15 plus years. She cuts everyone in the family's hair around here, my sisters, nieces, nephews and cousins. She knows us all and she often gets all the family news and gossip. She also knows that scheduling someone in our family doesn't always mean that person will shows up for the cut but someone will. If someone can't make it then before we cancel, you just have to ask around and usually someone needs a haircut.

Often times, I don't schedule out my haircuts, I just wait until I think I'm ready. The only time we've ever scheduled out cuts was when I was pregnant and wanted to make sure I got my haircut before I went into labor. She usually knows when I finally call, it's because I've had a headache for about a week or so and finally figured out that it's because of my hair. This time I managed to call and get an appointment before the headaches came on. Go me! :)

I called her and scheduled the apt for after work, thinking I would have plenty of options of who could come with me and help with CGR. Up until this point, I have always had what I call baby holders. Living around my family and my family is not small, there are so many people willing to help. This time, when I started asking around, I found out that my niece, nephew, and cousin's son had won a Hispanic award for their schools and would be at the awards ceremony that night along with their parents. That took out more than half my baby holders. Then my other sister and niece had to work...and with it being before Special K was off work and the last option of baby holder out of town...I wasn't sure what I would do.

Before the haircut

In the end, I decided I would go and try to use the stroller and snacks as means of entertaining her while my hair got cut. This did not go so well. The lady who cut my hair is always running late, so CGR did great while she washed my hair but once she started cutting, the fussing to be let out began. I ended up with her on my lap trying to get me to understand that she wanted to walk around and that raisins and cheerios go on the floor with the hair. She wasn't her best and of course momma did not plan to bring a pacifier, so as she did acrobatics in my arms my hair was cut. After we were done, I think we all sighed with relief and I was told if I find any long strands just to let her know and come back in. I haven't yet. I also apologized more than once for the amount of snacks on the floor around us.

left was taken on Sunday, and then a bathroom shot. :)

Last is a House Cup WIP update:

My BROOM is going swimmingly after I had to frog because I wasn't happy with how I was doing the wrap & turns for the short rows. I found this video from Cat Bordhi showing how she conceals them and decided to rip back 11 repeats and start over. I'm about 30+ repeats done of 85 so I still have a long way to go but I think it's coming along nicely. It's technically on hold this week so I can get some classes turned in.

Spectra by Stephen West

For my detention and my first class I turned in some dishcloths, but my first bigger project for classes is going so fast! I'm doing the 3rd had for the set I discussed yesterday. It's going out nicely and matches really well!

Rib-a-Roni by Jane Tanner

Once I'm done with that I have a laundry list of knitted gifts to get going...most have begun to fit nicely in my House Cup plan, which I will discuss soon.

Have a great Thursday and Happy Haircuts and working on WIPs!

FO round up

2011-11-02T17:30:00.000-04:00

There has been knitting/spinning/crocheting and PLENTY of it lately! As I've already mentioned, the Harry Potter Knit/Crochet House Cup has brought on productivity like there has never been in the barknknit house! I am focused and I have plans each month and love it! I have managed to knit all things the last two months but I am pretty worried about November. I have two big projects to complete...my BROOM and my OWL and still have classes, Tri-wizard tournament, yule ball, and Headmistress Challenge to do. This might be the month I don't get all things done....but I WILL try!

I've been able to get a lot of Christmas gifts knit and have more planned this month. I'll be doing the same kind of collage as I did last month for the term but I wanted to throw up some FO pics for today's post. Bring some knitting back into this knitting blog. haha.

Today we'll focus on hats! There were a couple hats knit last month and 2 more planned for this month. Since most of these are gifts I can't say who they are for but here they go. These three were all done using the Rib-a-Roni hat by Jane Tanner.

Always my favorite model! :)

This is one of three matching hats, this is the biggest of the three.

This is my model when CGR is sleeping and need to post my class.

I also sent my SIL who is expecting a baby sometime between now and the end of Dec. We just hope that baby wants to stay put a little longer but he/she is wanting to break free. Her due date is Dec 24th but not sure she'll make it that far. She had her baby shower a couple weekends ago and I sent her some hand knits so she'd have a gift from us to open and the baby would have some hand knits to keep him/her warm. You know every baby need some cute knit items.

Aviator hat and some booties

Well, hope you enjoyed the round up! There has been more productivity but you'll just have to wait to see it all in the collage, which should get posted soon! I'll also share more of my projects through this month as I'm working on them. Lots going on...especially since this is the last month of the Fall term. December is a break month but it will be planning for the new term that starts in Jan! So fun!

Happy Knitting!!

PS...yes, I realize green has been my theme lately. It's not even my favorite color but I just happen to have a lot of it in my stash right now.

Dia de los Muertos...

2011-11-01T22:00:00.000-04:00

Tonight was very interesting...

For a couple months now, I have started going to a new knitting group. It's much smaller than the one I used to attend at Panera's on Wednesday but it's been a great little group that meets every Tuesday. One of my old co-workers attends and it's nice to see her at least once a week. It also worked out PERFECT because right after I started going, my hubby decided he would finish up the school he started a couple years ago and they have class mon. and wed. nights. Now that I go on Tuesday nights, his return to class has been seamless for the most part.

Anyway...back to why it was interesting. We have moved our meeting around a couple times, however, we have been mostly meeting at a local indie coffee shop near downtown St. Pete. It has been a great place to meet and we've encountered ALL types of meet ups from last week's admin meeting for the St. Pete Occupy group to a writer's group that meets about once a month and reads their stories out loud and then critiques each others work.   I like going because I feel we get to see a pulse of a world I don't normally encounter. I also hear the pastries, especially the fresh baked brownies, are disgusting..just kidding...they are actually DELICIOUS but they all tell me they are gross so that I don't feel bad that I can't have them...have I mentioned I really like our little group. :)

This week we showed up as normal, however, when we walked in the door a lady dressed in all white and face painted greeted us with a friendly hello and "Welcome to our Day of the Dead Celebration." We all though this would be like the other groups, a side area where we could still converse and join if we so choose. Not quite what happened...as we were figuring out the best place to park our knitting selves the lady begins her "program." She welcomes everyone and proceeds to talk about the history of the Dia de los Muertos, which is awesome but not what we all come to knitting to do. When she starts her first poem of the night, we look at each other and make a quick decision to find a new place to knit tonight. I think we all felt a little guilty about leaving during the "program" but we all wanted to discuss our week and our knitting and that wasn't going to happen during her program.   We sneaked out the best we could.

Once outside, several ladies still had not arrived so we had to figure out where to go that they could still find us. While sitting outside the pizza place next door, we figured why not ask if we could knit in there. They said ok, so we went in and parked ourselves at a table.   We were the only group of people in the whole pizza place other than two woman and later on two men that sat outside. I think the pizza place was happy to have people in there and we were happy to have a place we could sit, knit, and chat. I enjoyed myself a beer and fries but mostly the company!

Since the Harry Potter Knit/Crochet House Cup new class prompts are up on the first of the month, I had to get some project done that I could turn in. I practiced MORE crocheting skills which I'm really enjoying. I learned how to do the triple crochet!

Well, I hope you had a great Halloween and Dia De Los Muertos! I know I posted pictures of my little lamb BUT I have to post this one that was taken on Halloween because she is just too cute!

The happiest cutest little lamb EVER!

and because I rarely post pictures of me and her...here's an extra!

Momma and my little lamb

Happy November!!

Edited to add: I had wanted to share these awesome Dia de los muertos socks posted on Keep on Knitting in the Free World blog that I read! Go check them out!

Happy Halloween from the Barknknit Family!!

2011-10-30T20:02:00.000-04:00

Hope everyone has a safe and happy Halloween! They say it's going to rain most the day so we're hoping it clears up so it doesn't ruin our fun plans! The plan as it is every year is to hang out at my sister Fleas' house and hand out candy and scare the neighborhood! The Leslee Lake Monster will live again!!

Here are some pictures we took at the Pumpkin Patch! Hope you enjoy and have a GREAT Halloween!

The Rush Family

CGR LOVES pumpkins!

All kinds of pumpkins!

The Rush Family

She is a happy baby!

and she loves her daddy!

And she is the cutest little lamb in the world!

Tricky Tricky Halloweeny!

This Moment - hanging with my puppy.

2011-10-21T08:00:00.000-04:00

DOT - playtime with CGR.

2011-10-20T08:30:00.000-04:00

Thought I'd share a cute video of Jackjack and his pal CGR for today's Dogs on Thursday post! Hope you enjoy!

For some background, Jackjack really doesn't like people messing with his paws but he puts up with it when it's CGR. He has always let me touch them but usually he will pull them away. I love how still he lays and just lets her do her thing. She is obviously WAY more excited about the interaction than he is but he isn't one to show lots of emotion. :)

Saturday fun times with my girl!

2011-10-15T20:25:00.000-04:00

Picture heavy post! :)

My plans for today was to go outside...to a park or somewhere. The weather has cooled down and I just can't resist enjoying it before it gets too chilly for us southerns. :)

I didn't quite have the day I had hoped or planned for because the landlord and his worker came to fix the leaky roof. On the bright side I did get to spend lots of time with my girl today! She refused to take naps because her first was interrupted by banging and dogs barking...and her second attempt was also unsuccessful. It is 4:30 and she's just now taking her afternoon nap. This probably means she isn't going to go to bed until later tonight but I'm going to let her sleep now.

While we spent the day at home waiting for the roof fix to be done, I made her model some handknits for me. Wanted to make sure that stuff I've knit her for winter would still fit this Dec for Ohio!

I tried on her Toddler hoodie and the arms might get tight so if they do I’m going to reknit them again but I love this hoodie! The hood is HUGE but oh well. :) She's so cheesy I love it!

Then I tried on her winter Tiered coat that I knit out of my handspun!! I am super excited about it!! :) It still needs new buttons because the ones I originally put on there to turn in for the House Cup I took off because I didn't like them.

This coat is pretty big and I wanted it that way because I wanted it to be something I could put over other warm clothes this winter. The arms are long and It might even fit her two season but that to me is awesome if it does! When the work was finally done and this little girl refused to take a nap, I got a text from my niece Surfergirl asking what we were doing. I told her that we'd love to go for a walk to feed the ducks...she said sounds good! So, we got in the stroller and headed over.

We had Crazyboy go lure the duckies our way. He called himself the Duck Whisperer. :)

So many ducks came over and many of them are not scared! I was a little worried our toes might have been mistaken for bread! :)

She LOVES her cousin Crazy boy!

We had a lovely walk and by the time CGR and I were on our way home she fell fast asleep. So, hoping she doesn't take too long of a nap but whatever she needs will be fine. Hope you are all having a great Saturday!

Happy Family TIME!!

Craftmania!!!

2011-10-14T09:42:00.001-04:00

I've been meaning to post for about 14 days now but every time I think about it I'm no where near my computer! I had not mentioned on my blog yet about how I joined the Harry Potter Knit/Crochet House Cup group on Ravelry.com. I don't even know how to describe it other than AWESOME! It's a Harry Potter themed challenge that in my opinion promotes productivity in your crafting. If you want to learn more, go over to the group and read the homepage information. Sign ups are not open right now but you can join at anytime and play as a NQFY (Not Quite First Year) and learn the ropes. I played as a NQFY back in late July and through the break month of August. It was a great way to meet people and learn about how the classes, OWLs, Quidditch, the houses and much more.

The Sorting Hat, yes there is a sorting hat, put me into Gryffindor for the Fall 2011 term! I am very excited to be a Gryffindor and have really enjoyed all the fun stuff that we've been doing in our House even though I know all the houses are pretty great! I've met so many great people both in Gryffindor and other houses!

The first month of term, which a term spans three months, was September and I was very proud of myself for how much I have accomplished that month! Since little miss CGR was born I haven't felt like I have been very productive when it came to knitting. I was finishing projects but I was also easily distracted and just didn't feel focused with my knitting. The House Cup has brought both to my crafting. Some may be surprised at this but I am a big planner! I like to make plans and lists and research things. I may not always implement them the way I intend to but I start off with a plan. :) So, the house cup is perfect for this. When the class prompts come out the first day of term, I have managed to read them and put together a plan for that month. Then I get started! Last month I did great! Here is a picture of all the things I was able to turn in and which class they fit into. My OWL project is a three month project so it won't be complete until November.

If you are looking for some focus, fun time and great Harry Potter fun...go check out the Harry Potter Knit/Crochet House Cup group!

Go Gryffindor!!! ROAR!!

Happy Crafting!

This Moment - smiles with momma.

2011-10-07T08:05:00.001-04:00

This moment - snacking on the beach

2011-08-19T08:31:00.002-04:00

New Daycare, Knitting, and all about me.

2011-08-17T20:01:00.000-04:00

This week has been the first full days at the new daycare. So far I think it's going great! My new hours of 7am to 4pm are working great too! It's kind of hard getting up at 5:45 am every morning but it's getting better. The first day was SUPER hard because Little Miss CGR woke up at 3 am and wouldn't go back to bed until 5!! However, after the first full day of daycare and playing with the other kids, she has been sleeping wonderfully since...yes I just realized I am jinxing myself. She has been a bit fussy lately but we are all thinking that it's teeth coming in. Not only has she been fussy but she has been putting everything in her mouth and slobbering all over the place.

Along with the new daycare, she just reached the age where she has separation anxiety. I knew that this would hit around this time and thankfully it doesn't come with her crying as we leave daycare but she just doesn't like to be left alone anywhere. If I try to put her in her excersaucer and do things in the kitchen, which is in site she will fuss at me. I just talk to her and she usually settles a bit but she doesn't like to not be within site or really near you. I know this stage will pass but it is nice to know that she wants me. I think it also is this way because of the teething.

Knitting related, I have been knitting! Lots of knitting going on. I finished a slouchy hat for my niece for her birthday and it didn't fit so I'm in the process of fixing the ribbing. I will post pictures of the process once it's completed.

I'm also doing a test knit for a friend. It's a super easy and fun scarf pattern. I picked some of my latest handspun to knit it with and I'm loving how it's coming out. I don't want to post pictures of the pattern as she hasn't posted it yet but here is a sneak peak.

In a couple posts ago, I talked about how I had lost some friends. Along with losing these friends, I also felt like I couldn't go to my old knitting group anymore. It was just somewhat uncomfortable and I didn't feel I wanted to go to a place I really didn't feel welcome anymore. It's been sad and hard because I really did love going to knitting and when it no longer felt that way, I just felt I couldn't go. In the end, I have found a new knitting home and it's a very small group, however, it's a great group too. I miss some of the other ladies from my old group but I just can't bring myself to go anymore. The new group consist of one old friend and two new ladies that I enjoy spending my Tuesday nights with. We are all getting to know each other but there is no stress or drama and I love all the ideas and knitting content with our evenings. My old friend and I are planning some VERY exciting new things so keep your eyes pealed for that! ;)

I also have some giveaways I will be posting on here and one on my barknknit podcast blog. I just haven't had a chance to post them yet.

Hope you have a great evening and are having a great week! Happy Knitting!

This moment - napping while out to lunch with the girls.

2011-08-12T13:58:00.000-04:00

Dogs on Thursday: A pup on the mend.

2011-08-11T09:36:00.000-04:00

This weekend our little girl Abbygirl wasn't feeling good. This weekend she wasn't acting strange but she puked up a couple times, which she never does. Jackjack is our puker dog. He's the one where every couple months he'll decide that he wants to puke up his dinner for a couple days and then he's over it. We've had him checked out and there is no reason why he pukes he just does. So, at first we though the puke we found was his...but then we actually saw Abby do it. That was the start of being concerned. Then on Sunday night she refused her dinner. Abbygirl never refuses food! Special K made her a pb sandwich and she ate that. The next morning, again she had puked in the middle of the night, she refused her breakfast and this time refused the pb sandwich as well. We waited a little bit and at this point we started getting a little concerned. Right before leaving the house I tried a piece of bread and she ate that.

On my way to work, I called the vet and they said that we should bring her in. I went to work for a couple hours and then raced home, grabbed her and off to the vet we went. She is so spoiled! I love her to death but she is so funny when all she wants is someone to hold her hand.

(Here is where I go into a bit of detail about stuff...if you don't want to read that kind of stuff...skip this paragraph.)
Once we got the vet, we waited to be seen. The vet tech came in to check her out and took a stool sample. She then came back and wanted to get a pee sample...in my mind I was thinking...Yeah right! :) They took her out without me first and nothing. She came back in and asked me if I could help her and out we went. I walked her around and told her to go potty and she would pee. She did relieve herself and this time the vet tech looked and we could plainly see there was lots of blood in her stool. We went back in and waited for the vet to come see us.

When the vet came in, he asked more questions and said that he thought she got into something and that it seems to be passing through her system. He gave her some meds for the bloody stool and some nausea meds. I took her home and let's just say she proceeded to then have the opposite of constipation. I was worried about leaving her home and not being able to let her out frequently. I went to work, told my supervisor that I needed to be home, packed up my stuff and headed back. CGR stayed with the nanny because 1. it's the nanny's last week and 2. I would be able to deal with Abby a little better and I wanted to wait until she was able to stop going often before bringing CGR home.

I spent the afternoon organizing somethings in the house that I don't normally have time to work on and letting Abby out every 30-45 minutes, which I'm very glad I was there to do. Here is some proof of my organizing. If some of you have been to my house you are not surprised of the state of my dresser but I'm not sure any of you have seen it this cleared off. ;)

Well, Abbygirl is doing much better now and she started feeling so good later that day that she started annoying her brother again. :) That's when I know she feels good. He of course was not too pleased with being bothered but I was happy she was feeling good.

I hope you and your pups are all doing great! Happy Dogs on Thursday!

This moment - holding items while crawling.

2011-08-05T16:30:00.003-04:00

Journey into non-family daycare

2011-08-02T15:00:00.000-04:00

I feel the harder I try to blog more frequently the longer between blog posts. I'm working on it and I do have a review and giveaway coming really soon! I just need to make sure to get the pictures set and then I'll post it.

This past week has been a whirlwind of looking for a new daycare. My niece has been taking care of Little Miss CGR since she was 2 months old. They have been having lots of fun and my niece has been there for the last 6 months Mon-Fri other than a trip she took to Italy back in March. She of course sees her on weekends too so you can imagine they have seen a lot of each other. I have a feeling they will both miss each other a lot. My niece posted a picture of CGR the first day she started and then this week.

2/1/11 to 8/1/11

It's amazing to see how much she's grown both physically and emotionally. She's a happy baby and I'm so proud to be her momma. And for those counting, she turned 8 months old yesterday.

So, knowing the my niece was going off to Grad school this fall, I should have started looking for daycare a while ago but every time I did no one knew if they would have an opening in Aug and said to call back. I decided just to wait then.

Well, August was fast approaching and I decided to make an apt with a lady that was close by and see if she would work. It took us a week to finally meet her as our schedule didn't work out. At first I thought she would be fine, but then right before we were leaving she felt the need to impart her "wisdom" on how I should be raising my child. I didn't sit well with me as I am not ok with the whole cry it out method of sleep training and I feel if my daughter wakes up at night and wants to nurse that I will nurse her. Nursing isn't all about food but I won't get started on that. After meeting her, I decided to check her up on the licensing board and I was further disappointed in her when I found a complaint. I won't say what the complaint was but It wasn't one that I was willing to over look. Armed with the knowledge that this lady wouldn't work, I had to figure something out and soon!

I put a call out to my mommy and me group on facebook and a mommy mentioned that her daycare had an opening. I quickly called her. The lady was very sweet, however, she lived too far away. Graciously, she said that she can post on her daycare board for people to email me if they had openings. She forwarded me the email she posted and within several hours I already had 5 options to meet.

Since SK had gone to the last one and I knew he really wouldn't want to meet all these ladies, I asked my sister Fleas to come with CGR and me. Looking back, thank God I did! That night we met two ladies, and they could not have been more polar opposites! The first lady was such a sweet woman. She brought us into her home and we talked and did a tour and then about 30 mins after being in the house, she asked me if she could hold CGR and of course I said yes. CGR cuddled her and seemed to feel very comfortable with her. I left with a good feeling after being there for a little over an hour. From there, we trekked up to the 2nd lady. I should have just called and cancelled when I was driving up there but I insisted that I needed to meet all my options. When we got to the home, I already knew I didn't want to be there. We walked in and as soon as the woman opened the door we were bombarded with a very strong perfume smell. She had not even closed the door when she snatched little miss CGR out of my hands. I felt a wave of panic and the intense need to get my daughter back as soon as I could! We were polite but asked very few questions and I could not get CGR back and us out of there fast enough. We drove home and all I could think was absolutely NOT!

The next day, we met with another woman during lunch and she was another very nice woman. I enjoyed her and I think she would have been a great choice. She had a comfortable home, however, she has 3 boys of her own on top of the potentially 6 daycare kids and I just felt that CGR wasn't ready for that. After driving far for the one woman's house, I decided it was better to find someone closer and cancelled the last two options. Since we had all loved the first woman I met, I decided to have SK meet her and if he liked her then that's who we would go with. We met her on Friday and I think SK felt as I did that she would be perfect to take care of our little girl. We signed papers and put a deposit down on Saturday and worked out the details of the switch.

We are not going to switch her over to the new daycare for another two weeks so everyone has some time to transition over. It's going to be a bit tough as I have to change my hours at work and SK will need to be doing the drop off in the morning. And the hardest of all will be losing our nanny. At this new daycare, CGR will be one of 2 girls around the same age and then there is another boy who is 10 months old who comes twice a week. She has openings for 2 over 18 months but she has not filled them yet. I'm feeling good that most the week at least in the beginning, she will be with only one other girl around her age.

It is so hard to pick someone you can trust to take care of your child that is not your family. Family is always best but when you have to choose I feel it all goes with your gut...and as the daycare lady we chose said to us, we really have to feel we trust her in order for it to work. She's been doing daycare for 26 years and she is a grandma to several grandchildren. As she also said, no one is perfect but you have to find the best pick. We've had to make some changes, such as we introduced a sippy cup finally even though I still just give her water in a glass most the time. We've also introduced cereal which to be honest, she really doesn't like. She will take about 2 bites and then wants whatever else we have to offer her.

In the long run, I didn't feel these were things I couldn't compromise on. I had wanted to ask her to do cloth but at the time I just really wanted to find someone great after the bad experiences we had. I am sure the first day we drop off I might cry...but I thought that about the first day coming back to work and I didn't. Only time will tell if we made the right choice but I feel we did.

Thanks for reading my story and I hope that you enjoyed it. If you have any daycare stories good or bad, please feel free to share them.

Happy Mothering!

Still using Cloth?

2011-07-25T20:12:00.000-04:00

So, my three bites of cloth diaper trial weekends came and went and I didn't tell you what happened? So, here is the very quick version. We started out this trial with one weekend. I had 10 BumGenius 3.0s which are pocket diapers, 3 Econobums which are prefolds and covers, and I got 3 Thirsties covers and a ton of prefolds. The first weekend went great and quickly and I mean quickly went to us using the cloth diapers nights and weekends. I immediately loved the cloth. I love her big fluffy butt in the cloth diaper and I liked the fact that it was all cloth touching her skin and no plastic or chemicals. I thought that they would be gross and difficult but other than having to keep up with washing them they haven't been. I still need to install the diaper sprayer which will make it even easier but for now it's all working!

CGR's very first cloth diaper!

After that first weekend, I already was using them at night. Whenever I change her diaper as long as it's not the morning diaper that she goes to her nanny's then it's a cloth! I have used the prefolds a couple times, however, I'm a much bigger fan of the pockets and they get a lot more use. I will use the prefolds now if I run out of the pockets and need something to put on her. They don't make her feel very dry like the microfleece pockets do and so she seems a bit uncomfortable. I think if we used them often she would get used to it as well as we'd be changing her more and that is always a good thing.

My hubby is still resistant against the cloth. He doesn't understand why I want to do this and I don't understand why he is resistant. This weekend I made with the help of my sister some cloth wipes. I took some of the receiving blankets that I don't plan to reuse...I had so many...and made 2 layer cloth wipes with them. My sister really helped the most with this! I also got a spray bottle because I don't plan to store them wet as we aren't using them all day but spray them and use them like that. I have not started this as I couldn't get the 97 cent spray bottle to work but Special K thankfully fixed that! I made the wipes just big enough to fit in an old Huggies container so they pop out like the regular wipes do. I'll let you know how it goes. I figured since I'm already doing diaper laundry what would adding wipes do.

Cloth diapers also make a great pillow when in shopping

I also would love to try out a couple other types of pocket diapers and maybe some All in Twos or hybrids. That involves spending money on them and since the hubby is still resistant we'll see when I get to increase my fluff stash. I would love to increase the amount of non prefolds I have by double since right now I can't seem to make it through the weekend without a Saturday night laundry load. I don't mind doing the load but I would love not to have to so I'd have enough to get me through the weekend. I already have my list of ones I want to try.

Well...all in all I am a cloth diapering convert! If I stayed at home, little miss CGR would be in cloth all the time. If you are even considering doing cloth diapers, you should try the three bites weekend. I know several online retailers do a trial pack that you can use and send back. This would be a great way to figure out if you even like them. They are a big investment if unlike me, you don't already have some in the family to try. I hope that you'll consider them.

I'm sure you will hear more about them as time comes. I will do a review of the ones I try once I start trying them. The ones I have are no longer produced so I can do a review but honestly you'd only be able to get them used.

Happy Cloth Diapering!

Where to begin...she's one of us.

2011-07-25T11:30:00.000-04:00

So much has been going on that I'm not even sure where to begin. This often happens when I've been away from blogging and podcasting. I get so overwhelmed with all I want to talk about that I don't even post and then it just keeps piling up! ;) So, here I go...just going to dive right in with the first thing on my mind....more allergies in my little family.

What has been occupying so much of my mind lately is the fact that we found out recently that Little Miss CGR is allergic to eggs, peanuts and milk. I know many of you out there will be like, why did you even give any of these things to her in the first place! Well, to my knowledge before this long experience, we didn't have food allergies in the family...this has since come out that in fact we do! And doing the BLWing route, and researching about eggs, it states that if there are no food allergies that it's ok to give eggs to a baby before 1 years old. Well, that didn't quite go very well with CGR. I gave her some scrambled egg and she quickly had an allergic reaction. She never had any issues breathing but she got a rash all over her body and was VERY itchy! We took her to the doctor and they gave her benadryl and ordered a blood draw for an allergy test. Since I'm allergic to so many environmental things, we included the environmental test for her as well.

Carmen and her new doggie bone teether.

After the experience was all over and she was fine, it was my emotions that ran away with me. I felt like it was all my fault and I had done this to her. I'm glad we found out now because what if we had given her the flu shot? She would have had a reaction to that....maybe this is why she's had some reaction to the other vaccines she's gotten. This also could be contributing to her acid reflux, because I have been eating these things. I LOVE eggs...love them with a passion! I love them scrambled, fried, deviled, and in things like french toast and omelets! Seriously...eggs are so yummy! Since she is so allergic to these, I'm trying really hard not to have any and I have succeeded but man has it been hard.

The other thing we found out was that she has a stage 1 allergy to dogs. Which isn't that bad and not surprising since so many of my family members are allergic to them but we all have them except one sister. She's around dogs all the time and other than some sneezing here and there really doesn't have much reaction to them. The doctor said to limit her exposure to them and keep the dogs out of her room. We're working on that but it's hard and she loves them so much that I can't really not let her love on her own puppies.

Well...this is what we are going through right now. I'm trying to adjust my eating and it hasn't been easy but I think it will be for the best. I can't eat all the cookies and cupcakes and milkshakes I want anymore. And that is a good thing. :)

As many have said, this too shall pass. There is a big possibility that she will outgrow the egg and milk allergy and the peanut is a big maybe but we'll get to that when we do. Changing my eating habits is good because that way if I can't eat it, we can't give it to her. Great practice to adjust our diets now.

Little Miss Carmen has been getting a lot more solid foods. She's been eating peaches like a champ and this weekend I actually picked up some puffs and she did a great job with them! She LOVES them! She's also had some zucchini, sweet potato, avocado, tortilla, pita, and I'm sure more. She's getting really good at eating things. Since she's crawling all over the place now with quickness she's also hungrier so it's a good thing.

Hope you enjoyed an update about allergies and Carmen. If you all recall, everyone in my little family other than Special K is allergic to something. I'm allergic to the world of pollens, dust, grasses, dogs, cats, and more. Jackjack is allergic to Lamb. Abby is allergic to rice, turkey and chicken. And we welcome Carmen to the allergy family with Milk, Eggs, Peanuts, and dogs. Special K is the odd person out...hope he stays allergy free!

Happy Living!

Happy 4th Blogoversary to me!!

2011-07-20T20:34:00.000-04:00

Wow...I almost missed it! Thanks to a kind commentor I actually am getting a post up on my 4th Blogoversary. I still can't believe I've been blogging for 4 years. As I've mentioned lately this blog has been over posted to neglected and talked about lots of things from knitting, dogs, weddings, and babies. Going back and reading posts is a great way to remember what I was doing these past 4 years. I'm so glad I started this blog back then. I know I don't always write much now but I hope you enjoy when I do post and the pictures I've posted. But to be completely honest, I don't always blog for you...I mainly blog for me. It's a place to share my thoughts about life and everything else.

There has been so much going on lately and I want to talk about it all but it's been a very long day. I'm ready for the couch and my knitting needles. I will be back later this week with more on what's been up with my life.

Hope you all have a great Wednesday and thanks for stopping by for my Blogoversary!!

Happy Blogging!

This moment - hanging with my momma.

2011-07-15T15:26:00.000-04:00

This moment - enjoying time in the grass.

2011-07-08T08:41:00.000-04:00

{this moment} – A Friday ritual from Soule Mama. A single photo(multiple this week) – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your “moment” in the comments for all to find and see.

Holiday weekend update and some knitting progress!

2011-07-06T14:26:00.000-04:00

This past weekend went by way too fast as weekend's often do. There was lots of play time, napping

swimming,

cleaning, crafting(even though this picture was taken today it was started this weekend)

and family time.

So, as you can see in the picture above I cast on something new. I've talked about how I've been wanting to learn how to do a steek, which means to cut your knitting. Often times it's used in cardigans, when you knit the piece in the round, secure your stitches by crochet or sewing them, and then cut your knitting. Finally this weekend I did a swatch and it was fun! I'll share pictures and details of this in a post soon. After I did the swatch, I cast on the Toddler Raglan Hoodie for Carmen that I am modifying the pattern to knit it in the round and then plan to steek it! I'm very excited. I'll share pictures of it as I go.

Hope everyone had a great 4th of July weekend!!!
Happy Knitting!

Organizing my WIPs!

2011-07-01T15:45:00.001-04:00

I mentioned in the post the other day about how I've been getting back to my knitting. It started when I dove into my stash to look at what's there and what I have on the needles. I also decided that I needed to organize the projects I have on the needles so that I only have a couple I'm actively working on. I decided the best way to do this was to pick themes for projects. I often times have a project sitting in a specific place to work on for a specific time. Such as my nightstand, in the stash closet for couch knitting, and in my purse or diaper bag for travel knitting. Using this theme, I organized the projects on my needles into four categories and picked out some projects that I have been wanting to knit and add those to the lists. This is what I came up with. Project currently on the needles are in bold. I've posted this on the group on Ravelry.com and also talked about it on the podcast. It has morphed a couple times. :)

Travel Project:

Barknknit’s Barknknit Raising Quilt by Shelley Mackie and Larissa Brown (longterm project)
Barknknit’s Simple Anklet made up pattern

Challenging Project:

Barknknit’s Moonfleet by Janine Le Cras
Aidez Cirilia Rose

Selfish Project:

Barknknit’s My Hemlock Ring Blanket pattern by Jared Flood
Spectra by Stephen West

Carmen/baby Project:

Simple Burpcloths in a pattern that I made up. (yes the projects page says I completed it but there is one left on the needles that I'm gifting to a friend)
Soakers for a friend (edited to add this)
Toddler Raglan Hoodie by Megan Goodacre
Baby Tiered Coat and Jacket by Lisa Chemery

Feel free to take this idea and post a similar post on your blog and come back and link it in the comments so I can go check it out!

Since I'm sure many of you are like me and feel pictures are important on blog posts. Here is a WIP pic of my Hemlock Ring Blanket that I've been working on since last April!

I'm SO SO close to being done. I'm on the bind off and I chose to do the knitted bind off and once I figured it out it's going famously. My plan is to have this off the needles this weekend. I really want to cast on the Spectra which I have the yarn in my stash for but promised myself I couldn't until I finish the hemlock ring. Wish me luck!

The project bag was gifted to me by my friend Amanda who used to be NH Knitting Mama but is now Sunflower Yarns. You should definitely check out her online store!

Happy Knitting!!!

PS...Tour de Fleece starts tomorrow and so you'll actually get some spinning content soon!

This moment - spending time with grandpa, aunties, and cousins.

2011-07-01T15:04:00.000-04:00

{this moment} – A Friday ritual from Soule Mama. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your “moment” in the comments for all to find and see.

DOT - The importance of Recall!

2011-06-30T14:00:00.000-04:00

A little bit of housekeeping to start off with. When I posted yesterday's post, I originally misspelled Coma...I said I had a Baby Comma. Comma is a punctuation and not what I was initially intending to say. However, comma as defined by dictionary.com is the sign (,), a mark of punctuation used for indicating a division in a sentence, as in setting off a word, phrase, or clause, especially when such a division is accompanied by a slight pause or is to be noted in order to give order to the sequential elements of the sentence. If I think about it, Comma makes sense too if we think of my life as a long run on sentence. Those weeks were a pause in most activity in my life and was a division in my life between my life before Carmen and my life with her in it. I edited the post and changed the spelling but in the end I think it worked either way.

I've gotten a lot of feedback about yesterday's post already, both private and public. I'm glad I posted what I was thinking. Thank you to those who have sent me messages and comments for your support and feedback. I appreciate that you took the time to let me know what you thought.

Today is Thursday, which in this blog space was always Dogs on Thursday! It's the day that Abigail Grace and Jackjack take center stage. When I first started blogging, I thought maybe they needed their own blog but in the end it was hard keeping up with two so stories about them were just added here.
I love my puppies. They have their faults like I do and well, we all do but in the end they are my dogs and their faults are part of who they are. I've worked hard to train them so that they are safe just as you discipline a child you need to make sure to train your pups. The training is not only for your sanity but also because with training you bring safety.

A very good example of this happened the other day. Our backyard has a chain linked fence with two regular gates and a bigger gate for a car or boat to go through. Usually our gates are all padlocked so no one can open them and us not know they are opened. We've always been really good about keeping the gates closed and if you've read my blog or listened to old podcasts, you know that Jackjack has not always been good with recall. Special K has been doing a lot of improvements to our yard and has been opening and closing the gates a lot. The locks we originally put on there have rusted so we weren't keeping them locked either. Well, one morning as we often do, Little Miss Carmen and I went to let them out. The dogs went out to go potty and I was standing in our screened in fence with Carmen when I looked out into the backyard. I saw my two dogs between us and the open gate! I stayed as calm as possible because they weren't running out it but sniffing around the grass. I quickly called for them. I had to call several times and get really excited but they looked at me and ran into the house without having time to go potty. I put Carmen in her excersaucer and went out to check the gates. Not only was that one open but the OTHER one as well. I was so grateful that there were no dogs or humans walking by during the moments before I realized the gates were open! I was also so thankful of all the hard work training them to come when called.

After I calmed down and went back into the house, I told Special K what had happened and we both recall that the gates where closed the night before. Freaked me out a little bit because even though we had some serious rain and wind the night before, that could not have opened both gates. That day, Special K went and replaced the locks and it has made me feel much better since.

As the lesson today...practice your recall...ALL the time!! Recall is one of the most important things your dog can learn and will keep both your pups and you safe. A good way to practice is to play the recall game. You can do this by getting a partner and having them sit or stand in another room or area and then calling your dog excitedly, have treats so you can give them to your dog when they get there, then you call your pups over to you. You can play this at any time and in anyway you want but just practice it! Always and I mean ALWAYS be happy when they get to you! Hope this helps you! It took us a long time but by golly I think my pups got it! Deep down I just hope we don't have to test it much.

Happy Dogs on Thursday

PS...yes, you will notice both pictures are old. Will work on getting new pictures of the pups for next week's post.

Baby Coma...and the birth of Mama Barknknit

2011-06-29T18:30:00.004-04:00

I've talked a little about what I now call my baby coma before but when Carmen was born, I swear it took all my brain power to just take care of her and heal that I feel now that I was in a daze most of those first couple weeks. We were nursing around the clock, changing diapers I felt every hour but I'm sure it wasn't, rarely getting more than 15-30 mins of sleep at a stretch an hour or two were amazing times and also getting to know this little girl who had joined our life...as well as letting others get to know her. This took up a lot of time and mental energy. I look back on this time, which was most of my maternity leave and was like why wasn't I doing this or this...but in the end I just know I was learning to be a mom and that was the most important thing I could have been doing with my time.

Now, almost 7 months later, I've been regaining my identity and it has also forever changed as well. Sadly, I have lost friends in my journey to motherhood and I've come to grips with that. I realized that I am who I am and I happen to like myself. I know not everyone will like me and life is too short to worry about those who just don't get me. There are plenty of people out there for them to be friends with as well as plenty of others for me to be friends with as well. I've said sorry for anything I did that was unintentionally mean and slowly working on righting my "wrongs" but I not going to say sorry for being me and for putting myself and my family first and why should I. They are not saying sorry for being intentionally or unintentionally mean to me. If they can be who they want to be and be rude, mean, sneaky, and just plan unfriendly, then why should I have to say sorry for being myself. Anyway...I'm getting WAY off topic here. I didn't plan this post to go into this but anyway...it's there and I'm not deleting it. This is my space...if you don't like it as I say about my podcast...there are other blogs you can read.

So...as I've been getting back to: Knitting: which I've managed to do a lot of lately; Podcasting, which I've gotten 3 episodes up in the month of June! Dog training/walking: which I never really stopped doing but have started trying to run with Abby and generally doing the things that I enjoy. I haven't given my wheel Pilar much love lately but hoping that the Tour de Fleece fixes that. You can also join me and other podcasters and podcast listeners in the Team Sasquatch group on Raverly for Tour de Fleece! My goal this year is to spin a min of 5 mins a day during the Tour. Wish me luck! I just hope I can finish some of the project on the needles before the start of it.

Back to the topic at hand, as I begin to plan out this blog and my podcast and figure out what I want to do, I realize that Barknknit doesn't really cover everything anymore. I used to be all dogs and knitting. Then I started spinning but that still fits and now I'm a mom. A mom who just wants to be the best mom I can be. I also want to be more of a natural momma than I thought I would be. I am into breastfeeding, babywearing, and I'm not against co-sleeping and now I'm diving into the cloth diapering world. As I learn more, I want to share more and so where does that fit in. I'm really not sure who all reads the blog, I know tons of people listen to the podcast and I've gotten good feedback about adding the Carmen's Corner, but I think I need to add more. I haven't decided exactly what that will look like but you will find out when I figure it out. In the meanwhile, my name went from just plain ole Barknknit to Mama Barknknit as being a mom is a huge part of who I am now. I was always a mom to my furbabies but that role has grown and I'm very excited about what life still has in store for me.

Hope you enjoy my thoughts as I really do plan to use this blog space for more than just pictures and incorporate more of my thoughts and ramblings that exist in my head, which is a bit crazy and I'm ok with that! I love who I am. I hope that you love who you are! How can you expect others to like you when you don't like yourself?

Happy Day!

Wordless Wednesday - The perfect teether for my baby.

2011-06-29T16:11:00.000-04:00

Journal Day #1: Firsts

2011-06-28T13:09:00.000-04:00

As I find a way to make more of this blog, I have found a solution! I was just yesterday thinking I'd like to make it more of my journal again. When I started this blog back in April 2007...wow, this blog is 4 years and 2 months old...my first post said it all!

This blogging thing is harder than it looks. I've always loved to journal but what craziness that I write do I really want others to read. :) I don't always make sense to others but when you keep reading it might in the end. I plan to post videos, pictures and what I can share of me. Hope you enjoy. :)

Crazy that this thought has come full circle. Fast Forward to present day, and I've been knitting for almost 4 years, this blog turned into a podcast, and now facebook, twitter, and plurk exist! So many outlets to post random things about yourself but what I really want again is my journalling blog where I posted my thoughts and just let people either read them or move on! :) I say this often about my podcast, but not everyone enjoys every blog or ever podcast. The blog and podcast is part of that person and let's be honest...not everyone likes each other and that is FINE by me. So, if you don't want to read my ramblings or like my writing style and you liked the format of this blog lately...very little posts and mostly pictures...then you might not want to keep reading because I think it's about to get wordy in here. For those of you willing to stick around....ENJOY!

Danielle over at Sometimes Sweet is starting a community blog project called Journal Day! Weekly, she’ll be sharing a writing prompt to spur your creativity.

This week’s prompt is:

Describe a “first” (first date, first lie, the first time you experienced something, first time in a particular setting, etc). Include as many details as possible to paint a picture

I bet most of you will not have to even read further to know what I'm going to talk about. :) I'm pretty predictable in the fact that when I start thinking about something...if it's something I become passionate about...I get a little obsessed. At first I was trying to think of a different first so that most of my family wouldn't just let out a collective groan but honestly...whatever!! You will all love me anyway and it's on my mind and so here it is. For my first journal entry I want to share my first cloth diaper weekend trial with you. It's the first time I've ever tried cloth diapers and so there were a TON of firsts. I'll go into more details in another post about the types and such but for now we'll just talk cloth diapers.

I had been so excited to try cloth diapers after all my researching and waiting for the diapers to get here from my cousin that I wanted to slap on a cloth diaper on her Friday night after work but we were going over to my father-in-law's house for a birthday party so Special K kindly asked that we wait until Saturday morning.

For a little background, he is not as excited about this, what he really hopes stays as just a trial, cloth diapering experience. He is happy with using disposables, however, he only changes about one diaper a week so in all honestly I don't think using cloth is going to effect him much. The only way he even agreed to the weekend trial was that there was NO initial cost. Our cloth diapers were purchased or gifted to my sister in CA and never used, then were passed on to my cousin in TX and never used, and now they live with us and other than two of them have now been used. :) Those two will get some use this week I promise!

Carmen in her very first cloth diaper

Back to my firsts...Saturday morning I finally got to put the cloth diaper on her! We have 10 BumGenius 3.0s which are hook and loop closure aka Velcro. (did you know that Velcro is a brand and hence copyrighted?) We also have three Econobums prefold and covers. I started with the BumGenius because those were the ones I was most excited about. They are bulkier than disposables so I had to use a onsie that was a bit bigger but they fit her pretty good on the medium setting. She wore that during her first nap of the day and we went over to my sister's house and she was great. I changed her and used another one and it was strange not really knowing when she is wet. Usually you can tell because the gel in the disposable starts to feel a bit solid...now that I think about that...that just grosses me out so much but anyway.

When we got back to the house, I put a prefold and cover on her because we were just hanging around but she fell asleep for her nap and the prefold made her feel a bit wet so it didn't really let her sleep long. I used two of them and they worked GREAT but I think I'll try to avoid using them for naptime. At least until she is more comfortable in those. I think the BumGenius's are much more comfortable for her even though they are bulkier.

At the end of Saturday, I had used 6 diapers. One poop diaper which REALLY wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. However, using 6 out of my 13 made me nervous for Sunday so I did a wash that evening. The washing was not nearly as bad as I had thought either! I would love if I had a little more of an advanced washer that I could preset the extra rinse and set the temp more but they got clean using it and the Rockin' Green Soap (review and giveaway for this product to come).

Saturday evening, I added the infant insert alone with the regular insert for a night time diaper and she slept FANTASTIC!! She was sleepy so I'm not sure if it was the diaper or the need for sleep but she did great! I've already decided to use these for night time diapers during the week too. Sunday worked out pretty much the same but I skipped using the prefolds. I had to change a poopy diaper at the restaurant Sunday night and again...not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I just put it in the wetbag. That night I did another load of the ones I had used that day. All the diapers were then clean but the one she was sleeping in. I have to stuff the inserts into the diapers because we are using pocket diapers but other than that I'm set for next weekend!

In conclusion, my first weekend cloth diapering went great! Lots of first and lots of learning. I have a lot more to learn about cloth diapering but I'm very happy with how it went. I promised myself that I would give them three honest weekends of trial before making any decision but with the fact that I'm already using them as night time diapers...I have a feeling that I'll be a convert.

This moment - love baby kisses!

2011-06-24T13:00:00.000-04:00

This moment - hanging at the park with my cousins (from last week)

2011-06-17T09:21:00.000-04:00

{this moment} – A Friday ritual from Soule Mama. A single photo (multiple this week) – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your “moment” in the comments for all to find and see.

Progress on Barknknit Raising Quilt

2011-06-09T08:25:00.000-04:00

When we first started thinking about trying to have a baby, I decided that I was going to knit a blanket with the intention of it being for my child. I looked at all the sock yarn scraps I had in my stash and decided on the Barn Raising Quilt in the Knitalong: Celebrating the Tradition of Knitting Together book. I bought the book because I just loved the concept and the patterns in it. I started this blanket on Sept 23rd, 2009...yes that was awhile ago! I just did a count of how many squares I've knit and I'm almost done with number 13! That isn't very many in the time but I feel good that it's so many already!

My goal is to hopefully finish this by her 1st birthday! That means Dec of this year. I think it's a long shot because I think I want to make something like 42 of them! So, I have to finish 29 more of them in 6 months when it took me almost 2 years to finish 13...umm...I'm probably crazy! Ok...so I did the calculations and if I finish 1 a week then I will be done by Dec but then I still would need to sew it up so I hope I can knit them faster than that. Anyway...if I don't it's ok...just hope to have it done sometime. Poor Little Miss Carmen needs this quilt.

Ok...wish me luck!! If you have some fun scraps of sock yarn that you don't know what to do with...let me know because I'll gladly take it off your hands! I mainly want superwash yarn if possible.

Happy Knitting!!! Hope you have a great night!

Wordless Wednesday - Carmen vs Green Bean

2011-06-08T20:24:00.000-04:00

Summer Crafting Todo List

2011-06-03T17:30:00.000-04:00

My crafting has forsaken me...or I have forsaken crafting. Not sure what has happened but my creativity is all ideas and no action. What to do about this but create a to do list! Since I wasn't sure where to put this list and if I make it public maybe I'll be more motivated to finish more of it...here you go!

General Crafts:
1. Build three of these chairs for our porch. I know I definitely want to make one for Carmen and then 2 adult sized ones for SK and me.

Spinning:
1. finish the polwarth fiber that I have currently on the bobbins
2. spin up the black Corriedale locks that I cleaned before I had CGR into about 2000 yards of lace weight

Knitting:
1. Frog all project on the needles that I do not plan to finish or have not worked on in months!
2. Organize yarn stash
3. CO a project for CGR
4. CO a sock (believe it or not I do not have a sock on the needles!!)
5. CO a cardigan for me!
6. Finish at least 20 more squares for CGR's Barknknit Raising Quilt

I think this is all I have for now. As I finish I'll cross it off and if I get so inspired I will add to this list in the coming weeks and months. I would like to get most of the stuff on here done by the last day in August.

Happy Crafting!!

This moment - daddy and his little girl

2011-06-03T10:26:00.000-04:00

{this moment} – A Friday ritual from Soule Mama. A single photo (three this week)– no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your “moment” in the comments for all to find and see.

This moment - chillin with one of my puppies.

2011-05-27T09:25:00.000-04:00

Dogs on Thursday! We sit for momma!

2011-05-19T07:57:00.004-04:00

Hope you are all having a great Thursday! Since CGR has been getting so much attention on here I figured the pups needed their day back! They are doing great! They have been so good with CGR and also just in general. Their only issues is that it's the season for Abby to be itchy and Jackjack is getting more and more grey hair!

They are still my precious babies! Here they are sitting and waiting to go out tonight! They like to run around the yard but they wait patiently before they bold out the back porch door. Love their faces!!

Happy Dogs On Thursday!!

Knitting, what have I done to you?

2011-05-18T20:56:00.000-04:00

I have not been having good luck with my knitting. I won't go into the whole ordeal but lets just say from cardigan yokes that are too long to casting on and twisting stitches it's been a mess! I don't know what to do with the cardigan at this time. I know I'm going to frog but what to do with the yarn. I'm thinking I might do a vest but I haven't really decided I want to do that either!

So, I pulled out a project I had on the back burner for a while to give me some downtime knitting before I could figure out what my next project is. I'm not sure any of you will remember but way back before I was even pregnant I started a blanket for my unborn child from the Barn Raising Quilt pattern. I called this the Barknknit Raising Quilt. I have knit many squares but have so many more to go that it was sort of put off for a while. My knitting group recently knit one for a friend and it came out so great that I think I am going to finally get around to finishing it for Carmen. That does involve actually finishing more squares though.

After starting to work on the squares and regain my faith in knitting, I cast on a skirt for Carmen. I'm using the pattern Caiden's skirt by Yumiko Sakurai. This is the project that I couldn't get started right for some reason. I decided I would knit it in the round because I can't see knitting this in two pieces for a skirt that could easily be knit in the round but the problems started there. First I cast on WAY too many stitches for it to fit her in the next three years I felt and then I twisted the stitches when joining in the round and had to frog AGAIN!

I finally cast on again last night with 108 stitches and it looks like it's going to work out great!! I am not a huge fan of this yarn because I feel like it sheds a ton but I had it in my stash and with my yarn budget to below zero I had to make due with what I have.

I think this will be a quick knit and if I run out of red I just plan to finish the top part with the white cotton yarn. Can't hurt right?

Well, hope you are all having a great Wednesday!

Happy Knitting!!

Carmen meets solids the baby led solids way!

2011-05-17T07:45:00.000-04:00

Ok, it's official! We are officially starting solids when Carmen is 5 1/2 months old. I posted about Baby Led Weaning or Baby Led Solids as it's starting to be called in the US back in this post. Back then I was still not ready for her to actually "eat" anything but she was showing signs of readiness so we were giving her tastes of apples and pears. Well, last week my girl decided that she was going to sit up on her own and this was the last sign I was waiting for before officially starting.

Check out these sweet sheepie pajamas!

So, last Thursday while I was at my sister's house, we pulled out a banana and let her eat it!

This is actually the 2nd time I've let her have banana but the first time I wasn't ready and when she got a big bite and spit it out, I stopped giving her more. I really think she liked the banana but she didn't like the fresh banana as much as once it had been a little manhandled. When she would taste the new banana piece she would shake her head a bit. The banana was VERY messy and like my sister said she smelled like banana pudding but she seemed to enjoy it and she was able to get a good handle on getting it to her mouth. A couple times she squeezed the banana pretty hard and broke it up but as she kept trying she seemed to start getting it. I think banana is a good start and I plan to give her more bananas.

Our 2nd food this weekend was Avocado! This was so fun! But how can you resist this cuteness! And check out those pups who didn't know what was coming there way! :)

She got super messy but I knew she would so I just put her in her booster chair in only her diaper. I'm not big on bibs and I only think Carmen has had one or two bibs on and one was for a picture. She got a bath right after this experience with Avocado.

Since then she has been so interested when I eat anything...thinking she will get a taste but I haven't given her anything. We haven't had time when she is not already sleepy and we are home. Hoping to be able to give her the other half of the avocado before it goes bad. And I have a sweet potato to bake to give her too.

Well, I hope you enjoyed these videos. Other than daddy not being too excited about the mess it makes, we are having a GREAT time watching her figure things out!

Oh and a quick recap: Both Avocado and Banana are a great first solid food but are very messy and takes some skill for them to be able to pick up and get to their mouth without them being mush! :)

Happy Eating the BLS way.

This moment - the best seat in the house! We need this for our house!

2011-05-13T16:15:00.000-04:00

Happy Mother's Day! My First as a mom.

2011-05-08T22:31:00.000-04:00

Mother's Day has always been a bit of a sad day for me. As many of you may know, my mom passed away when I was 6 of breast cancer. She was an amazing person and so many people have told me so many wonderful things about her. I don't have many memories of her as I was so young but I love hearing stories about her. Here is a picture of my mom pregnant with me. She was making a cake with my sisters.

I also found a fantastic picture of my mother breastfeeding me, however, I'm just not sure I want to post that on the internet for all to see. :) I do want to make sure I have pictures of my daughter and I breastfeeding because someday she might want to see them. One of my favorite pictures of my mom and me is this next one. It's one of the few of us together that I have and I just love how happy we look.

On Mother's Day, I always think of my mom and the fact that I haven't had her with me on Mother's Day for 24 years. In the past, I've gotten through this day in thinking of the women in my life who stepped up and mothered me. When you don't have a mom of your very own, often times your friends share their moms with you. This isn't always an easy process but I did spend a lot of my childhood at my friend's houses with their moms. One in particular is my friend Lynley's mom. I remember so many weekend's of my childhood spent as their fourth child and 2nd daughter. When I was in high school, I spent lots of time with my best friend Annemarie, and hence spent lots of time with her mother as well. Even though, I think Annemarie did her own mothering of me. hehe...just don't tell her I said that. :)

The ones that have been there for my whole life and have always been like moms, best friends, sisters, and so much more to me are my four sisters. Each one of them means more to me than I could ever tell them. They each are so special and I'm not sure how I could have gotten through all these years without them. They have wiped up my tears, made me laugh, taken me along on their adventures, and taught me how to be a mom. They were bridesmaids in my wedding even when they all said that they didn't want to be and pleaded with me to ask my friends...but they gave in when they realized how important it was to me. They were there when I gave birth to my own child and helped me get through those tough first weeks at learning to be a mom. I will forever be grateful that my parents had each and every one of them and for teaching them the skills they needed to be there for me. Here is a picture of us with my hubby and dad at my wedding.

Today's Mother's Day was both bittersweet at usual but was more sweet than bitter for the first time ever. This year, I am a Mother to the most amazing little girl I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. It's my very first Mother's Day I got to focus on what it means to be a mom and not what it meant to be without my mom. My husband wrote out two cards to me. One from himself and one from our daughter. They were the sweetest cards and made me tear up. I enjoyed my day spent with my girl and my family. She made me laugh a lot and just watching her explore the world makes me so happy.

She also will forever remind me of my mom because when it came to naming her...only one name came to mind for me and that was my mom's name Carmen. My sister Cristina gave me a wonderful present this Christmas and until I opened it I had not thought of myself this way. She gave me a necklace with two charms. One charm says "Carmen's daughter" and the other "Carmen's mom." It's kind of amazing that both my mother/daughter relationships in my life are with a person named Carmen. :)

I hope that everyone has a wonderful Mother's Day and that you think of all the blessings in your life. Thanks for stopping by my blog and hope you made sure that you celebrated all the "mother" relationships in your life...even your furbaby ones! ;)

This moment - watching the pups as a distraction from our teething.

2011-05-06T09:39:00.001-04:00

Yes, there has been knitting! Not much but there is knitting!

2011-04-29T18:00:00.000-04:00

Before I had my sweet CGR, I knew there would be a decrease in the amount of time I would be able to spend knitting and spinning. I still thought I would at least think about it right away....boy did I not realize the power of sleep deprivation and baby brain has on you when you first have a child. I know other women who were able to pick up their needles very soon after having a baby but it took me a month or so of realizing that the times when I could knit I wasn't. It wasn't that I didn't want to knit but there wasn't enough room in my brain for thinking about knitting. :) I didn't realize I missed it so much until one day I realized I had not knit a stitch in weeks!! I talked to my sisters about it and they explained that when I was over their house if I wanted to knit while they held the baby, which they were doing anyway, I could knit. It took me a couple visits to start doing that and then it was close to going back to work after my maternity leave and I still hadn't knit very much.

Once I got back to work and little miss CGR started actually having a bedtime she was sticking to, I finally starting knitting more. I tried to knit at least a couple stitches after putting her to bed at night and before I crawled into bed myself. I still wasn't getting much done because she was waking up so often at night so I was dead tired working full time and trying to help around the house. I also am the only one who gets up when she cries at night because I'm breastfeeding and honestly there really isn't much my husband can do most nights. Every once in a while, I need to get him up if she wants to play too much and I've been trying to get her to sleep for over an hour and losing my ever loving momma mind! But mainly, she fusses I get up, feed her, and she's right back to sleep. Anyway, I'm getting off topic..yes...momma brain.

So, at work I have to take pump breaks and at first I would go and watch netflix shows on my ipod and pump. I'm well into the 2nd season of Lie to Me and I love it! Then my best friend since 9th grade sent me the most amazing thing EVER!! A hands-free pump bra! It revolutionized my pumping! I then added an extra 20 minutes of knitting a day! Once I added that, I got my knitting mojo back and have been knitting more in the evenings and weekends again! Thankfully, little miss CGR is sleeping better. She still wakes up 1-3 times a night but I'm getting enough sleep that I feel ok staying up past her bedtime for a while and knit.

I have TONS of things I've added to my queue lately and I also started a new project! In an upcoming post, I'll share my ever growing queue list but today I'll just share what I'm working on.

This pattern was shown to me by the inspiring Jasmin from the Knitmore Girls Podcast. I have mentioned her and I talk about patterns a lot. I was looking for something inspiring to start for myself and she sent me this and I quickly bought the pattern and cast on that night I believe!

Goodale(rav link) by Cecily Glowik MacDonald

Using Green Shuibuiknits Worsted

It doesn't look like much yet but I'm moving right along with the pattern and am about to split for the sleeves. So far the pattern is straight-forward and simple. Exactly what I needed.

So...for all you wondering out there. Yes, I'm knitting! I've even spun a bit since I had CGR and finished up some fiber I was working on and have been slowly...and I mean VERY slowly working on some new fun Polwarth!

Happy Knitting!!

This moment - The determination of a new solid food "eater!"

2011-04-29T11:45:00.003-04:00

And the adventure in solid food begins...

2011-04-26T18:00:00.001-04:00

I've been doing research on starting solids since little miss CGR was only 2 months old. I quickly decided that I was going to wait until she was ready...and 6 months olds. I read several ways of doing solids but the one that made the most sense to me was Baby Led Solids or as it was originally called in the UK Baby Led Weaning. In the UK, weaning means to start solids and doesn't mean what we think it does of weaning from nursing.

What is Baby Led Solids you ask? Well, in my words, it's skipping purees and cereals and waiting until your baby is developmentally ready to eat foods, such as showing interest in foods, sitting up pretty well, and more. Then instead of spoon feeding your baby, you start with french fry shaped fruits and steamed or baked veggies and put them in front of your baby and let them feed themselves. This is done while monitoring them very closely of course. At around the time you start, you baby's gag reflex is far forward in their mouth so this helps them from choking. It takes them time to learn to manipulate the food around it and down their gullet. I've been warned there is a lot of gagging but to let the baby work it out. If they are chocking of course intervene. The blog that helped me gain the most confidence in this method and really helped me understand was Adventures in Solid Foods. I've read the thing from start to finish! It's got everything you want from facts, to loads of pictures and some video!

The book that started this is called Baby Led Weaning by Gill Rapley. I have not read it yet but have read a lot of excerpts from it. :)

So, armed with this knowledge I pledged to wait until my girl turned 6 months old until she would taste anything but breast milk. We all know best laid plans are always broken right?

The last two weeks or so Carmen who will be 5 months old on May 1st has suddenly discovered that these humans around her put all kinds of food in their mouth and they seem to really enjoy it! She stared at us whenever we ate or drank anything. Last week, she forcefully grabbed my cup of water I was drinking out of while I was holding her so I let her have a sip. You would have thought it was the best thing EVER! She was so excited! I only let her have a little bit of it because I wasn't ready for her to drink too much water. Also am worried it will effect her nursing and then my milk supply.

Then came today. I went home for lunch to nurse Carmen as I do pretty much every day and after she ate I sat her in her booster chair with the toy part in it and we were just playing.

Then her nanny niece Sarah sat next to us and was eating an apple. Carmen was interested so I said let's try it out. She at first didn't notice we had put it on her tray but once I showed it to her and she got it in her hands and IMMEDIATELY it went into her mouth. Thankfully I was already taking pictures of her so I changed my cellphone to video and caught her experiencing the sweet juiciness of apple!

I'm still not really ready for her to eat too much solid food but the fact she's so interested I plan to try out some other things I think she'll do ok with. I don't want to do anything too mushy as I don't quite think she's ready for things to go down her throat. Apples seem like a great start! She was even able to pick them up when they got all slobbery!

See her figuring it out! It's amazing to watch her brain working so hard!

Well, as we try new foods and actually start eating things I'll share more of our "Adventures in Solid Foods." Hope you enjoy it as much as Little Miss Carmen does.

Happy Eating!

Happy Earth Day and Good Friday!

2011-04-22T11:22:00.002-04:00

With today being Earth Day and Good Friday all in one, I figured I'd start with some green talk and tell you about a family tradition.

How green are you? What do you do that you would consider being "Earth" friendly? I've often thought that I wish I was "greener" than I am. Currently, we try to use some natural cleaners but we don't do enough in my opinion. I wish we did more recycling and ate only fruits and veggies from the farmers market and so much more that would benefit the world and us but alas we do not!

If I had my way, I would not just be a breastfeeding, somewhat baby wearing momma but I'd also be a cloth diapering one. When we were pregnant, the conversation between Special K and I went something like this. "I plan to breastfeed"..."ok"..."what do you think about cloth diapers?"..."not into them."..."ok." I'm sure there was more to it than that but that's how I remember it. As you can tell, I was ok not trying them out. My sister had tried them and she had problems with leaking and it didn't work out for her. I also knew we'd have a hard time finding daycare that would support this cloth diapering idea and I was already having such a hard time finding one that I was comfortable with. In the end, my niece is our daycare provider until the fall but I did talk to my nanny niece about cloth diapering once and she was the same as Special K...not into them. So, we've never tried them but I feel if I was a stay at home mom that I would put more effort into trying them as I do think they are a great idea. Well...maybe someday with the next baby I'll try them out. So...for this Earth Day I will put it out there...someday I plan to be more green by trying cloth diapers...someday...but as sad as it is...that day is not today.

Cloth Diapering Mommas out there...did you try cloth diapers? What worked for you? What didn't?

On a happy note, my baby is a happy girl! She is spending today with her daddy because he has the day off! I wish I was staying home with them but instead I have to head to work...oh well. Some of you may have already seen this video but here is my girl laughing at her cousin Crazy boy! :) He's a riot!

I love her laugh and I melt every time I hear it!

Good friday:
When I was a little girl growing up in Panama, my family had a tradition. On Good Friday, we'd all pile in the car and go to 7 yes, count that 7 different churches. Each church represented a station of the cross. I'm sure I complained a lot when I was young but I appreciated the tradition and my father always bribed us with lunch out afterwards. Today as I work, I will remember all the beautiful old churches we visited in Panama and remember the many times we visited them when I was growing up.

I hope you all have a fantastic Friday! I will be working all day and then heading to a wedding at night. It will be the most time away from little CGR I have had yet. I will miss her tremendously but I know that her and her daddy will have a good day together.

Well...better get to bed and schedule this for tomorrow! Have a lovely Friday and happy Earth Day and Good Friday!

God Bless

Dogs on Thursday: Letting the dogs out.

2011-04-21T12:32:00.000-04:00

The Barknknit pups are doing really good! As has been discussed, they are doing really good adjusting to life with CGR. She is already a dog lover! She loves to watch any dog around her and she just wants to pet them aka grab them and put their fur in her mouth if they are close enough! We have several rituals we do with her and the dogs. One is we like to go around and say "Good morning" or "Good night" to the pups. She usually gets a nice big wet tongue but she just goes along with it. Another thing she likes to do with the pups is go and watch them while they are being let out in the backyard. Here is one of these experiences in pictures.

Abby likes to hang out in the screened in back porch with us. Abbygirl knows this is the best place to be to get pet and for some lovin.

However, if Abby hears a pup or person passing by the fence then she runs out to join Jackjack in the barking! This prompted little miss CGR to call out to them and or join their barking at the innocent person passing by.

Then Jackjack came over to get his love in before we headed inside.

It's amazing to see that our love of our pups is already being matched by her. I'm sure as the weeks come when she starts crawling and moving she'll annoy poor ole grumpy Jackjack but Abbygirl will be delighted when she learns how to pet her for real. The big question is how to teach Abbygirl not to pet her back! :) I'll keep you posted on that one.

Hope you are all having a fantastic week! We have been having lovely plumbing issues which are now resolved but forced us to take showers at our families houses. We look forward to this Easter weekend as well...which also happens to be daddy aka Special K's birthday on Sunday!

Happy DOT!!!

Carmen is 4 months old!!

2011-04-01T08:00:00.029-04:00

4 months ago today, little miss Carmen Grace came into our lives and changed it forever. It's amazing how much she has taught me about life, love, and motherhood already. She's changed my view on so many things in her short time on this earth. Just watching her grow makes me happy. I can sit and watch her discover the world and just be amazed. Her little voice brings joy to my heart and I can't wait to watch her learn more and more.

She grows so fast and I try so hard not to miss anything. That has been the hardest thing about going back to work...missing the things she does during the day. As my dad has reminded me over and over again..."It's about quality time not quantity."

In her first 4 months, I've watched her learn to smile at more than just gas, roll over from her tummy to her back, start enjoying tummy time, cry less and less and communicate more, discover her hands and the taste of her fingers, and learn to giggle. I look forward to what comes next. She has been concentrating so hard on getting moving. As we continue to learn about the world together, I hope to share her experiences as well as my thoughts on motherhood and more. Stay tuned!

Happy 4 months to my little baby girl Carmen Grace.

Dogs on Thursday!

2011-03-31T21:19:00.000-04:00

Been a while since I posted about my pups, let alone posted a DOT post so I figured with one post I'd knock them both off my list. Jackjack and Abigail Grace are doing great! When I got home from the hospital after having Carmen they were so excited to see me!!

I came in first by myself and let them out back and loved on them. Special K brought in Carmen into the house in her carrier and then the dogs and I came in from out back. They were very curious about her smell but they did great.

They were also very curious once we took her out but did so well when we asked them to give us some room.

At first they weren't sure what this creature was that was taking all of mommy's time and daddy was running around but then she started to cry less and make noises. I try to remember every night to take her around and say good night to them and then in the morning we say good morning to them. They know it's coming so when we go to say good night or good morning then come over and sniff her and sometimes get a good lick in. It's our routine and I like it!

I look forward to the day that she interacts more with them but for now I hope to teach them to appreciate her and her them. Abigail sometimes beats me to the crib when Carmen wakes up and sticks her nose in to check her out. It's pretty cute! Abby also likes to join us if we are on the couch nursing. She's figured out that I have a free foot to pet her.

Today it's been raining both cats and dogs all day and as I think I've mentioned before Miss Abigail and Mr. Jackjack do not like to go outside if it's raining. The only way we can get them to go potty is to actually take them on a walk in the rain and get soaked along with them. So, as I played with Carmen tonight, Special K took them out in the rain. They got back all wet and really tired. Here's Abby watching me wash bottles.

And since Jackjack is hard to picture in the dark, here is an old picture of him chilling on the couch on top of my knitting. He's in the same position tonight but sans knitting.

Happy Dogs on Thursday!!

Knitting, spinning, and spinning oh my!

2011-03-29T21:18:00.001-04:00

Hello blogland! It has been awhile since I posted. I am working on that! I have a plan for this blog. First I plan to post blog posts...yes, that's a simple plan but it's needed for the rest of my plans. Second, I am going to add some variety to my posts. Right now I could probably post many things about my little girl but I am going to make sure to keep posting about jackjack, Abigail, knitting, and spinning and more too. Third, as said little girl starts solid soon I plan to chronicle her journey into learning to feed herself. I will go into this more soon but for now that's all you get. Ok, so there are my general plans. I hope you all come back or stick around to read more!

So today we are starting with some spinning! During my maternity leave I did very little crafting. It took me a while to figure out how to forgo wanting to pass out as soon as little CGR fell asleep. The first and only spinning I've done since she was born was this lovely silk merino! It's spun woolen from a politically incorrect batt. I had the colors stay in the same repeats and then I Navajo plied it. It's a little heavier than a worsted and I plan to make a hat out of it.

The next thing I've been working on is a hat for a friends infant. I made my friend a red hat for christmas and now making her daughter a similar one. It's a improvised pattern with some leftover sock yarn I had in my stash. I also used some of this yarn for a hat for CGR that I'll have to share a picture of her in soon.

The next thing I've started working on is prepping some lovely polworth fiber that kigeliakitten sent me as a gift! She saw on twitter I was interested in trying out this fiber and graciously sent me this! It's so soft and I can't wait to start spinning!

Well, that is what I am working on right now. I don't get too much crafting time but it's getting more and more as she gets bigger. Also my best friend sent me a hands free pump bra so while I pump at work I can now knit! That's about 20 mins or so a day which adds up over time.

Hope everyone is doing well! The pups, CGR and special k all say hello as well and hope I still have people who are out there wanting to read about little me aka barknknit. Now the crazy knitting dog mom. :)

Carmen is 3 months old!

2011-03-07T07:54:00.000-05:00

and she is now officially an infant!

So, I know that this blog has been neglected and I'm working on reviving it. You're going to see some new posts coming soon. I'm not going to make any promises like a post a day or anything like that but I'm just going to make an effort to get some posts back up here. I know this blog was started as a knitting blog and I have pushed the limits as far as I can go. I plan to continue that push so please bear with me. You are going to see more about little miss Carmen with still some knitting and spinning mixed in there. :)

For today's post I just wanted to share a video that I made this weekend of my girl talking, kicking and just being the cutest thing ever! :) Hope you enjoy it!

Happy Monday! Enjoy!

Happy New Year!

2010-12-31T15:31:00.000-05:00

So much has happened in the last month! Sorry for the lack of posts but we have been adjusting to our new addition. On December 1st, 2010, we welcomed Carmen Grace into the world. She has been a joy and we've been spending lots of time getting to know each other.

The Barknknit Family would like to say Merry Christmas (yes a bit late) and Happy New Year!! Hope everyone has a blessed 2011!

Happy Holidays!

Gnat, Carmen, Special K, Jackjack, and Abigail Grace

Barknknit WIP Parade 2010!!!

2010-11-02T16:54:00.000-04:00

Here we go!! YAY!!! Thank you so much for those of you who have participated. It really helped me a lot to see all of your WIPs!

So...here are the list of Floats! Please go over and check out their floats and all their WIPs!!

Grace from Loving Comfort Knits!

Chana from Eclecticitee!

Channon from ChanKnits!

Becky from Sketches and More!

KnittingSue from Knitting as fast as I can!

Dawn from KnittingWolf!

Jessica from Alabama Fiber Dreams!

Gaylen from Gmarie!

Patricia from Knits 4 U Designs!

Kayla from the Knitting Nurse!

Mujercity from Constantly Knitting!

Kitten from Kitten with A Whiplash!

Marcy from Marcydrake's Tangibles!

Hope you all enjoyed this parade! I sure had a great time checking all the floats out! Next year I'm going to have the floats also give me a picture to post here with some of the WIPs! But that is next year! :)

So...now what you have been waiting for!! The winner of this year's Barknknit WIP Parade 2010, picked by random.org!

CONGRATS go out to Becky from Sketches and More!!!

I will contact you to get your address.

Picture of prize to be posted shortly, however, she is winning some fiber or yarn, a project bag, and some stitch markers!!

The 2nd prize or prize for posting about the contest...also picked by random.org is

Chan from Chanknits! Her prize is TBD. Will post pictures soon! :)

Hope everyone enjoyed this fun contest! I know I did!! Also winners if you don't hear from me soon..please contact me! I will get your packages in the mail soon!

Barknknit Float for Parade!!

2010-10-10T16:35:00.001-04:00

Here is my Float or entry into the Barknknit WIP Parade 2010!

The way my float will be organized is by cast on date with knitting first and then spinning. I think this is a bit scary but we'll start there. :)

As a preview, here are all the project bags with the projects I'm not actively working on this weekend.

AND LET'S BEGIN...

WIP #1: Entrelac Socks by Eunny Jang

These socks were started back on Feb 7th, 2008! Yes, they have been on the needles that long! I am done with the first sock but am stuck halfway to the heel on the 2nd. I've been moving them from needle to needle yet I have not worked on them since I think May of 2008. I also don't even know where the pattern is. I have contemplated just giving up on these and leaving it as a single sock but I keep hesitating. I have no desire to work on them so they sit in my stash in their project bag until the day I either give up or take them on.

WIP #2: The Subtle Stripe by Lara Killian

I knit one of these vest for my father and it went so quick. I actually knit the body of his vest twice. I then cast on this one for Special K and it has been on the needles now official over a year. I started this on August 23, 2009. It's an easy pattern but for his he wanted it bigger than the pattern and I'm using worsted weight. He also wants it longer so I didn't order enough yarn. I'm worried that I won't have enough so I keep putting it to the side. It gets knit on every couple months and I'm determined to finish this by Christmas. Wish me lots of luck because I still need to order the yarn.

WIP #3: Barn Raising Quilt by Shelley Mackie & Larissa Brown

The first square for this was started on Sept 23rd, 2009. It has always been intended as a baby blanket for our first child. We had just started talking about trying and I started is as an intent blanket. I have given into the fact that this will not be completed by my due date of Nov 29th for my first baby but that she will hopefully have this blanket before she turns 18. I use it as an project to grab when I need something mindless and I'm in-between other projects. I'm using all the left over bits of sock yarn I have in my stash and I have I believe 9 squares completed.

WIP #4: Hemlock Ring Blanke t by Jared Flood

This project was started on April 1st, 2010. If you listen to the podcast, this was started as part of a Jared Flood blanket KAL for the podcast. I worked on it solely for a while and then I lost my knitting mojo and mojo to knit this blanket. I plan to finish it hopefully by the end of the year but it's not a priority so it will sit waiting to be finished until I'm ready. I will admin I can't wait to completed it and use it! It's coming along so nicely!

WIP#5: Moonfleet by Janine Le Cras

This is my first Unique Sheep KAL that I ever joined and the colorway is their Barknknit colorway created for me. I started this on May 14th, 2010 and I was so excited about both knitting with lace and beads. I really enjoyed both and learned a lot as I was going. This was put on hold because I made a mistake in the lace and my pregnant brain just can't get around fixing it. It's lovely and I want it completed but right now easier patterns seem to be what my brain can process. I know I will have to frog at least three rows and then figure out where I am in the pattern to get going on this and so it sits and waits.

WIP#6: iPhone mitts by Julie Ridl

Last winter I knit several of these. The first one was for my SIL, the 2nd one for my trip to Ohio for Christmas, and the 3rd for my nephew. I loved the pattern and so did many others. I had gifted my niece Surfer Girl with this yarn which is from Shelby B's Designs are it's her Ginny Weasley colorway. My niece hasn't had time to knit anything with it and she wanted a pair of gloves so I told her I would knit them out of this. I have finished the first glove but not the thumb and I'm almost done with the 2nd. This is her Christmas gift so I have a bit of time before it needs to be done. These were stared on September 3rd, 2010

WIP#7: Vanilla Socks ala Knitmore Girls.

I cast on these socks on October 7th, 2010. I had decided that I would knit a pair of vanilla socks and then matching socks for my baby girl. I'm using some Madelinetosh Tosh Sock in Tart colorway. They are coming along pretty quickly. I took this picture yesterday and I'm already done with the heel and on my way to the toe. I did mention how my brain is enjoying the simple knitting right?

WIP#8: BFL Combed Top on my Spindle

I have been working on this longer than I can remember. :) Actually I'm pretty sure this was being worked on when I got my wheel back in Feb of 2009. I pull it out every once in a while and spin some and I should be finished with it already. I think it will get done when it does as I have no urgency to clear off this spindle. This is my home-made spindle that I love and learned a lot on.

WIP#9: Politically Incorrect One night Stand Batts on my Majacraft Pioneer.

I purchased this fiber at the FL Fiber In this year and started working on it on Oct 2nd at a Pinellas Weavers guild spinning meet up. I'm spinning it long draw and plan to navajo ply it. It's a dream to spin and really enjoying the mix of the Merino and Silk in this batt.

Ok...so that is all I could find. I will admit as a side note I have several things on my projects page on Rav that are not marked as complete yet because they need ends weaved in but for this WIP Float we are not counting those. :)

Hope you enjoyed my float and I look forward to seeing all of yours! Happy Floating!!!